The National Party believe that freedom of speech is a fundamental right, National’s Justice spokesperson Simon Bridges says. “We completely oppose the criminalising of speech except in cases of incitement to violence which is already provided for in New Zealand Law. “We are not ruling out supporting sensible changes
Blazing Saddles is regularly ranked – with good reason – as one of the funniest movies of all time. From IMDB to Rolling Stone, to fan-driven site Ranker, they all agree: Mel Brooks’s 1974 western spoof is one of, if not the, funniest movie ever. Even the onslaught of Cancel Culture
David Seymour ACT Leader The Government’s proposed hate speech laws are a huge win for cancel culture and will create an even more divided society. What sort of government promotes social cohesion by having the state go around punishing people for unpopular views? This is a solution looking for
Mark E. Jeftovic axisofeasy.com April 20, 2020 Things are moving quickly. In the old adage “Never let a crisis go to waste”, governments everywhere are using the pandemic opportunity to: * Rule by decree * Stifle freedoms guaranteed under various rights and charters * Enact mandatory surveillance * Silence dissenting speech All manner
Free Speech Union The Free Speech Union says that Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt wasn’t hired to tell artists what work they can and can’t produce. He should start defending human rights, not stand against freedom of expression. A spokesperson for the Union, Stephen Franks says “The
Dino Sossi University of Toronto Dino Sossi has produced media for AOL, CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes, CNN, The New York Times, and VH1 at Viacom. His documentary films have screened at festivals in New York and Los Angeles as well as Berkeley, Cambridge, Columbia, Harvard, Oxford, and Pennsylvania. Professors fiercely
Rachel Poulain Free Speech Union www.fsu.nz My name is Rachel, I’m a member of the Free Speech Union’s Council, and one of our spokespeople. Further to Jordan and David’s articles over the last few days I’m writing to update you on our new case
Bryce Edwards Victoria University of Wellington – Te Herenga Waka democracyproject.nz Dr Bryce Edwards is Political Analyst in Residence at Victoria University of Wellington. He is the director of the Democracy Project. Despite the avalanche of feelings expressed against the They Are Us film being made – something that blogger Martyn
Dr David Cumin Spokesperson Free Speech Union Further to Jordan’s article yesterday, I am writing to ask you to support us in forcing Auckland Council to respect the rights of free speech – and stop banning groups they disagree with from using public facilities. This time, it’s not some
Jordan Williams Free Speech Union Last week Faafoi told Parliament’s justice select committee that Labour’s proposals to strengthen hate speech laws will not criminalise opinions or the “stupid” things people say unless they stir up hatred towards a particular group. According to Stuff: Bridges asked if the Government
Jordan Williams Free Speech Union Last week the militant lycra lobby took issue with comments posted on a person’s private page. They elected to track down his place of employment and complain, alleging that the private posts breached Mitre 10s ‘sustainability policy’. For context, he had posted on his
In New Zealand, we already have adequate legal protection from speech that incites violence or murder. It is already illegal to incite others to kill or physically harm an individual or group. It is already illegal for a person to threaten to kill or harm another person. This is one
Jordan Williams Free Speech Union There has been a lot going on behind the scenes – but as will become evident later this week, it appears that the very good guidance from the Court of Appeal that local councils have duties to protect freedom of speech, is already being ignored. Speak
