2005-03-18

Is this blog free speech?

There has been a lot in the news about proposed rules to censor blogs, include that of your humble correspondent. If the very restrictive McCain-Feingold campaign finance laws are applied to the internet, I could be fined for linking to a political candidate's website or quoting a political press release during certain times of an election cycle. I think this is very scary stuff. Whether you are a Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, Communist, or Independent, you should realize that this affects your free speech. As the number of blogs increase, it is very likely that some of you readers may have one and decide to talk about a candidate you feel should be elected.
Censorship in any form is bad. Whether it's an unfavorable opinion of the government, a breast during the superbowl, porn being played on NBC on a Saturday morning, or Larry Flynt selling magazines in Ohio, no law should restrict anything that is transmitted, no matter how benign or heinous some may feel it is. This isn't merely my opinion, it is the First Amendment, which has been and will be seriously fucked over by obsenity laws, campaign finance laws, and other legislation possibly introduced with noble purposes but with the ultimate goal of eroding our freespeech.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey! Me again. I agree. Screw censorship.