No platform for BNP?
‘Oh, yeah, they’re gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it’s gonna scare ’em.’
– George Hanson (Jack Nicholson), Easy Rider
The South Wales Evening Post’s accepting an advert from the BNP reminds me of student days and the great No Platform debate, which examines the balancing of one person’s right to speak freely against others’ right to live free from discrimination.
In truth speech is carefully regulated. Laws on defamation protect against malicious lies and the broadcasters’ regulator expects them to deal with people fairly. So while a complete ban on fascist views is extreme, it is a fair given that those views are themselves extreme to such an extent that they threaten others’ liberty and are are often expressed in a manner likely (perhaps designed) to incite violence.
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