IP Democracy: Hate Speech is a Free Speech, Not Net Neutrality, Issue

A very difficult issue has cropped up in Canada — attorney Mark Goldberg has this item about a petition he helped file asking the CRTC to give ISPs permission to block content from a U.S.-based white supremacist. This racist, neo-Nazi Bill White of Roanoke, VA, has called for the murder of an Ottawa human rights attorney.

The CRTC has the right to give ISPs the go-ahead to block content but has never done so. Google, a private entity, helped the government out Wednesday by taking down one of White’s sites hosted at blogger.

However repulsive White’s views are regarding race, religion and violent overthrow of government, it’s always upsetting when the government, any government, is asked to snuff out speech. In the U.S., the First Amendment is designed to specifically protect unpopular or fringe speech, however repugnant or ignorant that speech may be.

It is only with great, great reluctance, and only in very rare circumstances, that the government should ever block what anybody says. That’s why the ACLU fought so hard on behalf of neo-Nazis to march in Skokie, IL.

But, the First Amendment does not protect speech that threatens others or that could incite panic or rioting. In fact, calling for the murder of people is grounds for arrest and indictment. I’m not as familiar with Canadian free speech law, but from what I do know, the laws are similar in both countries.

What Goldberg and his colleagues are seeking to do is limit speech, and from the sounds of it rightly so (as much as it pains me to say that). They are not, as Jon Arnold says, seeking to limit some kind of “net neutrality” freedom. Arnold calls this situation “the dark side of net neutrality,” but it is no such thing.

It’s the dark side of free speech, maybe, but has little to do with the ability of carriers to pick and choose from content and applications providers. That’s net neutrality. This is free speech and deals with the question of when and under what circumstances the government has the right to limit the ability to speak.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on August 24, 2006 10:06 AM to IP Democracy