evolution

British Holocaust denier David Irving was finally sentenced to three years in prison on charges in Austria of professing Holocaust denial. Irving, who is justifiably regarded worldwide with scorn, ran afoul of Austria’s “hate speech” laws.

Here is some commentary on Irving’s case by Michael Shermer that appeared in the LA Times.

This discussion seems timely, as Kansas considers a bill to restrict advertising by sex-related businesses (shops, strip clubs, etc.), several states including Kansas are considering another bill aimed at curbing the funeral protests of Fred Phelps’s travelling freak show, and worldwide riots were sparked by the publishing of some mediocre editorial cartoons depicting Islam’s prophet Muhammed.

As to the cartoons, we know where countries in which shari’a law is in force lie on the issue of free speech for their citizens. As for the others, I dislike these laws, along with 99% of speech restrictions, like campus “speech codes”. You could make a case to me for the regulation of adult entertainment ads, for we have similar measures in force for regulating cigarette ads; namely, the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising of 1966 bans such advertising in radio and television media and regulates the format of print advertising — like, for example, roadside billboards.

For example, when some blogger with too much time on his hands breathlessly declares that Republicans want you to die of cancer, one (if one were a Republican, which I am not) might make a challenge under the speech codes that were once in force (and perhaps still are) in places like Texas Tech University or the University of California-Santa Cruz, which have on the books regulations against speech which “disrespect” or “malign” one’s political views.

The University of Kansas, despite its “red-light” rating from FIRE, has no such code, making such a challenge moot. All the better for me. You see, I don’t have any restrictions on my speech, either. I can make such bloggers the butt of my jokes (which I plan on doing regularly for a long time to come). I can attempt to refute the assertions if I choose. I can make ridiculous assertions of my own. Or, as I chose to do in this case, I could simply sit silent, not really having a dog in this partisan fight; and raise an eyebrow in suspicion, turning away to continue to search for naked pictures of Swedish models. Quite frankly, I think I’m rather adept with speech. I can use it to thrust and parry as well as most people. (Note: My alma mater, Kansas State University, also had a “red-light” rating, and a code that, in my opinion, is a bit more onerous and politically-correct than KU’s.)

David Irving is a wretched being, and no doubt his being marched into prison makes some people who’ve been through a lot feel better. He shouldn’t be there. Speech codes and “hate speech” laws can be used to undermine free societies. Unfortunately, people for whom this is desirable can sit back and laugh as we continue to do it to ourselves.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006 at 19:47 and is filed under news/media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.