We have been discussing the alarming erosion of free speech in Canada in the last few years — part of a trend in the West. Those concerns have been rekindled by the trial of Roy Arthur Topham, who was charged with promoting hatred against Jewish people through his website RadicalPress.com. He was arrested by the RCMP Hate Crimes Unit in 2012.
While these postings would be viewed as distasteful and hateful in the United States, they would be fully protected under the first amendment. However, in Canada, the indictment charges Topham with two counts of “communicating statements, other than in private conversation, that wilfully promote hatred against an identifiable group, people of the Jewish religion or ethnic origin.” In the articles Topham accused “World Jewry” of starting World War II, controlling the media and planning for world domination. He also used the phrase “Synagogues of Satan.” Topham wrote a long statement on his blog in response to his arrest.
The government argued in court that all of this is untrue and that “[t]here is no global conspiracy. There is no secret kabal of Jews wanting to control the world.” However, that misses the point. Few people would take these arguments seriously but that does not change the fact that he has a right to articulate such views. If the government witnesses want to prove him wrong, they can exercise the same free speech rights to denounce him and his views.
This trial comes in the same month as the conviction of 12 people in France for merely protesting Israeli products as a form of hate speech. It is all part of the alarming rollback on free speech rights in the West, particularly in England and Canada ( here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here). Much of this trend is tied to the expansion of hate speech and non-discrimination laws.
A few examples from our cousins in the North are quire chilling:
• Comedian Guy Earle was found guilty of violating the human rights of a lesbian couple after he got into a trash-talking session with a group of women during an open-mike night at a nightclub.
• Marc Lemire, the webmaster of a far-right political site, was punished for allowing third parties to leave insulting comments about homosexuals and blacks on the site. Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley ruled that “the minimal harm caused . . . to freedom of expression is far outweighed by the benefit it provides to vulnerable groups and to the promotion of equality.”
• “The Rev. Stephen Boission and the Concerned Christian Coalition for anti-gay speech, censured future speech that the commission deemed inappropriate.” While the Human Right Commission found “no direct victim . . . has come forward,” it still ordered damages paid to a college professor to brought the complaint and ordered the defendants to stop any future such “disparaging remarks.”
• In 2008, right-wing publisher Ezra Levant investigated by a tribunal for his publication of the Danish Mohammed cartoons for “advocating hatemongering cartoons in the media” and allegations from a Muslim that he was “defaming me and my family because we follow and are related to Prophet Mohammed.”
• In 2008, Maclean Magazine was charged with hate speech for publishing an article written by Mark Steyn entitled Why the Future Belongs to Islam. The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, demanded answers on why a few pages of the book were viewed as derogatory by complaining Muslims.
These cases represent more than a lack of support for free speech. They represent a comprehensive assault on free speech.
The problem with free speech is that you often have to support the claims of people you may find hateful and even disgusting. We do not need free speech to protect popular speech or speakers. However, once we place ourselves on the slippery slope of speech regulation (as has Canada), the result is the diminishment of all of our rights.
What do you think?
Source: CBC
Oh, Obama is Israel’s whore too but I think you already knew that.
The U.S. congressional whores are stealing our money for their pimp Israel.
Israel can buy a lot more U.S. whores with $50B.
Israel got its $50B in Fence Mending from America
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2015/11/13/israel-got-its-50b-in-fence-mending-from-america/
Speech is only truly free if we defend the right of others to say things with which we disagree. This prosecution seem inappropriate and anti free speech as does the statute under which it was brought.
the Zionist Supremacists are having NATO pass a law where no one, anywhere, can make a negative statement about Jews or Israel….
Dear Webmin, in response to your callout about my cheapshot.. I welcomely embrace the term. I have no problem with that at all. That will be a hallmark trait of my administration, count on it. ( like you’re not a cherry picker of all possible rebuttal. Easy solutions don’t make strong countries. #Schwing )
The explanation of my views didn’t change whether I did or didn’t read it because the title, misleading or not , breaks down to two simple problems. There are those who 1) use ‘free media” to promote lies as news. When such a group is allowed to push criticism or focus group bigotry at another group, they will eventually be called out and in so doing 2) protect the group they were either smearing or slandering. That is the specific instance of my annoyance with Topham because satire is not an appropriate way to address social issues with serious tones. I ‘m not here to defend his blog. I ‘m here to address the results of any of his posts that cheapen critical address of jewish criminals and unethical behavior inside a collective who allegedly shuns such lifestyles/decisions.
I heard that Prophet Mohamed was a pedophile. Can anyone speak to that issue?
I also heard that Jesus was a Jew. How could that be?
I also heard that the Marx Brothers were not Marxist. Is that true?
Someone said that Pope Benedict was in the Hitler Youth. How could they elect a Pope who had been a Nazi?
If the Germans and French could round up all the Jews in both sections of France (the west was Vichy) then why can’t the Frogs now round up all the Muslims?
I predict that France will go way far rightwing after tonight. They need to.
The best comment (so far) is Arthur Topham’s response to #MichaelBenchforUSprez45, which he posted as Webmin. The worst? Well, that’s easy – #MichaelBenchforUSprez45’s comments are an embarrassment to thinking and knowledgeable people everywhere. What could have possessed him to brag about not reading Arthur’s blog before posting his obviously ignorant opinions about Arthur and the case against him? Geez!
Europe has a higher rate of hate crimes against Jews than the U.S. How effective are these laws banning criticizing and insulting races and religions? I would argue that the counter-speech afforded in the U.S. serves Jews and other potential targets of such insults more effectively than the banning of speech. Criminalizing speech only serves to foment adverse political attitudes, and those jailed for such offenses become martyrs for extremists.
Mohammed was a psychopathic, narcissistic, murderous, pillaging, pedophile child rapist.
If I post the above on a Canadian website, would truth be a defense to the prosecution? I think that I could prove the truth of all of the foregoing merely by citing to Islam’s holy books.
There was a post wondering why it’s not the same that the “hate speech” in the Talmud is not condemned.
Well, the Talmud and the Old Testament were written thousands of years ago, in a very different time.
If, however, some religious faction brought back the old ways, and stoned adulteresses in the US, it would be condemned. Just like every time an insane religious fanatic who kills a child in the name of the faith is universally condemned. Didn’t Professor Turley write about an incident where a Christian cult murdered a child because they thought he would be resurrected?
So, having remarks in ancient religious texts that were apropos of the times is just free speech and freedom of religion, but anyone trying to bring back such practices would be criminal, and treated as such.
Not so, in other parts of the world where these ancient traditions are still kept up. Take Africa, for example, where in all of the countries in the continent, albino children are still sacrificed because their body parts are deemed “lucky” to all but the owner. This has gone on for thousands of years.
Let us learn from this. If we continue the current trend of erosion of free speech, this is what the US will look like one day.
Reblogged this on John Drake.
Reblogged this on Derek Byrd.
“Speech” is not qualified in the 1st Amendment. It says SPEECH and it means all speech; even speech some don’t like.
The King is no longer an oppressive dictatorial omnipotent tyrant.
We may insult the King. We may not stalk, assault, batter or harass the King, but we may insult the King.
We may not literally and demonstrably direct forces and incite to riot, but we may insult the King.
Who among us has the authority to modify the 1st Amendment arbitrarily? No one.
Canada demonstrates its intent to dictate as a despotic collectivist regime, oppose freedom and oppose America.
Canada egregiously deviates from a shared course of freedom. Canada would have imprisoned George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
This is a glorious victory for Karl Marx.
Shame on Canada.
__________
1st Amendment
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Excellent comment Webmin. MichaelbenchforUSprezwhatever is a complete moron. Seriously? “I haven’t read his views” and then he goes off on a long winded comment which I didn’t bother reading since he jumped the gun without educating himself on this case. The world needs less idiots like Michael and more people like Arthur. Cheers to you Arthur for standing up for freedom and our right to criticize and speak truth. I pray you succeed in repealing that Orwellian legislature. We need to work on making Canadians aware of this since the zionist controlled media has kept silent on this case.
rcocean, Orwell is weeping.
I loved the fact that there’s a “RCMP Hate Crimes Unit” which goes around surfing the net trying to find “Hate Speech” and then arresting people. They do this in England too. If someone hears you say something “Hateful” the next day some Bobby comes knocking at your door and asks you to come down to the police station for questioning. Meanwhile. Property crime in England in Skyrocketing.
This is coming to the USA. All they need is 5 SCOTUS judges and they got 4 there already.
Webmin, Great comment!