Steven Price

My book

Media Minefield


Guide to NZ Media Law

Official Information Act

Official Information Act


Bill of Rights Act

Media law resources

Feeds (RSS)


« | Main | »

When free speech creates disorder or hate

By Steven | June 28, 2021

“De-platforming”. It’s the free-speech zealot’s issue-du-jour. I’m looking at you, Damien Grant.

It seems so exactly what cancel culture is. Don’t like the speech? Ban it.

Except it’s not really a ban, is it? There is nothing to stop those poor begagged individuals from putting out press releases and YouTube videos, railing on social media, and speaking out on television and radio about… how their speech has been shut down so outrageously.

Other pressure groups can only dream of such opportunity to put across their views, such a terrific… platform. What if the Free Speech Union itself were deplatformed? Can you imagine how gleeful they would be?

So I find it difficult to get too worked up about it. That’s not to say it’s not a serious issue, especially when it’s a public agency doing the de-platforming. It’s just that, as a speech restriction, it’s so partial (there’s nothing to stop them seeking out another venue, for example, and it does not affect all their other avenues of speech), and so often counter-productive (how many of us would even know Stefan Moleneux and Lauren Southern’s names if it wasn’t for their Auckland deplatforming?) and so rare, that, for me anyway, it doesn’t rank right up there in the list of top threats to free speech.

But Damien Grant sees the Molyneux/Southern case as a backdown by the courts, and a troubling precedent – one that reflects our “milquetoast” right to freedom of expression in the Bill of Rights Act. The US, with their much more powerful First Amendment, wouldn’t have a bar of it.

Damien describes himself as a “free speech absolutist” and wouldn’t stop anyone from holding a public meeting in a library. This is good news for those wanting to introduce a wider audience to the delights of child pornography or give instructions on how to make bombs with household ingredients or publicly release all of Damien’s private and business correspondence. But for the free speech moderates among us, the issues are trickier. (Incidentally, free speech doesn’t get quite the free ride in the US that most people assume. It is common, for example, for protesters in public places to be herded and ringfenced in the name of public order).

Fair enough, I think, for Damien to wonder if the Auckland Council authorities were truly concerned with public safety, as opposed to the likely content of Molyneux and Southern’s speeches. But on the evidence before the Court of Appeal, that was the reason; there was some support for it; and it wasn’t an unreasonable basis for the decision, even though, as the judges pointed out, others may have reached a different decision. That’s judicial code for: you should probably line up a better justification next time.

Damien is in a flap about the decision for several reasons, some of which make sense. He says anyone holding a meeting will now have to “consult the rabble of discontented on Facebook and Twitter”. Let’s grant poetic licence for that piece of nonsense. More to the point, he argues that the decision gives opponents of any particular speech a “heckler’s veto”. By threatening disruptive counter-protest, protesters can create a lawful pretext for officials to cancel the meeting. This is a genuine problem, at least in theory. But I note that it’s the job of the police to prevent disorder and if, at a particular event, this was imminent, that would involve intervening to stop those threatening the violence. Why are we assuming, at the point of giving permission for the meeting, that violence will break out and the police couldn’t handle it?

I’m saying that the heckler’s veto is overstated. That’s because it can usually be managed, and because it really doesn’t happen very often. And in this, I’m really agreeing with Damien. It’s not a usually very good reason for cancelling a meeting like that one.

Then Damien points to the recent Speak Up For Women cases.  SUFW booked a room for a public meeting in the Palmerston North library. The library later cancelled it, replacing it with a debate on similar issues, to be scheduled sometime in the future. Damien says this is because they regarded SUFW’s message as a safety and wellbeing issue, and felt they had a licence to shut down meetings of groups that might have threatened “social and cultural wellbeing”, which could be anything they disagreed with.

If he’s correct about that, then they got a rude awakening. The court said this was plainly not a lawful reason to cancel the booking. It readily found that no violence was threatened and if a debate about the issues would not raise any safety concerns then surely a meeting by one side couldn’t either. There was no reason to think there would be a disturbance, and free speech isn’t predicated on having an opposing voice present. I think Damien and I would both applaud that.

I’d just point out, as Damien didn’t, that this decision applied the Court of Appeal decision in the Molyneux/Southern case. That is, it followed the instructions in that case for how to deal with de-platforming issues. The Court of Appeal had set a fairly high bar, and the High Court ruled here that the Palmerston North City Council didn’t clear it. The rule is that you need a pretty rigorous justification, based on good evidence, to overcome the presumptive right to free speech at a public venue, especially where the speech is political.

That seems like a reasonable rule. It will usually require evidence of likely violence. But the really interesting case will come when someone is promoting truly hateful speech (and I do not put SUFW in that category; neither did the judge) and seeking a public platform for it, but where there is no realistic violence issue. Speech that perhaps has a political edge, but is full of racial or religious smears, harmful misinformation, and/or insidious but not explicit calls for action against a historically disadvantaged group.

Is it lawful and justified to put some restriction that speech by denying it a public platform? I think that’s a hard issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topics: Free speech theory, NZ Bill of Rights Act | 47 Comments »

47 Responses to “When free speech creates disorder or hate”

  1. cuanto sale el viagra en la argentina Says:
    November 9th, 2021 at 12:36 am

    […] can i buy viagra in boots […]

  2. sildenafil citrate 100 Says:
    December 19th, 2021 at 7:49 am

    […] sildenafil tablet 50 mg […]

  3. online casino new york Says:
    January 12th, 2022 at 1:36 pm

    […] best games at a casino […]

  4. make my own tadalafil pills Says:
    January 13th, 2022 at 12:12 pm

    […] pfizer viagra pills […]

  5. how can i get cialis Says:
    January 15th, 2022 at 11:45 am

    […] 20mg cialis daily […]

  6. indian viagra tablets names Says:
    January 20th, 2022 at 5:24 am

    […] sex viagra tablets for male […]

  7. meritroyalbet Says:
    January 26th, 2022 at 9:28 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://www.baraldi.it/promozione-conduzione-di-generatori-di-vapore/

  8. eurocasino Says:
    January 26th, 2022 at 9:36 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://www.firstspell.in/2015/11/22/ready-for-kindergarten/

  9. elexusbet Says:
    January 26th, 2022 at 9:41 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    http://ateneocadiz.es/tag/jacinto-guerrero/

  10. meritking Says:
    January 26th, 2022 at 10:10 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://daworld.org/community/groups/generic-drugs-9524/

  11. meritking Says:
    January 26th, 2022 at 10:18 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://mobileing.com/ad.php?ad_id=8929

  12. madridbet Says:
    January 26th, 2022 at 10:24 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://skluzavkazuh.cz/galerie/prechod-chribu-2011/

  13. eurocasino Says:
    January 27th, 2022 at 3:21 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://www.derbyfab.com/dot_emailfriend.asp?referurl=//viagraviagra.us

  14. elexusbet Says:
    January 27th, 2022 at 3:38 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://gilletvertigo.com/portfolio/projet-pikex-peak-2/

  15. trcasino Says:
    January 27th, 2022 at 4:14 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://frenchformommy.com/malade-malade-malade-tout-le-temps-malade/

  16. trcasino Says:
    January 28th, 2022 at 2:44 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://www.khv.be/mb-uitroeiing-spongiforme-encefalopathieen/

  17. tombala siteleri Says:
    January 28th, 2022 at 10:59 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://lagindustrial.com/istock_hands-in-middle-business-team-medium/

  18. tombala siteleri Says:
    January 28th, 2022 at 11:16 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    http://www.skyfashion.co.uk/product/mauris-lacinia-lectus-8/

  19. tombala siteleri Says:
    January 28th, 2022 at 11:19 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://andreazonn.bombplates.com/posts/06-29-08/inspiration?page=117

  20. meritroyalbet Says:
    January 31st, 2022 at 7:13 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    http://www.kluchalki.com/как-да-защитим-дома-си-от-кражби

  21. meritroyalbet Says:
    January 31st, 2022 at 7:14 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://www.proximvo.com.au/blog/ble-beacons-australia/

  22. meritroyalbet Says:
    January 31st, 2022 at 7:28 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    http://pligg.samweber.biz/story.php?title=sildenafil-citrate

  23. meritroyalbet Says:
    February 18th, 2022 at 4:14 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://grandstreetguild.org/author/jeffrey/

  24. Elifle Grup Sex Yapıcam Says:
    January 12th, 2023 at 2:19 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://www.lehtojoki.fi/2013/viinia-wienissa/comment-page-8/

  25. porn Says:
    March 29th, 2023 at 5:34 pm

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    http://www.imrec.cl/index.php/es/component/k2/item/31-image-8?start=980

  26. meritking Says:
    April 9th, 2023 at 2:49 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    http://barahimi.com/plesk-stat/webstat/usage_201912.html

  27. grandpashabet giriş Says:
    July 11th, 2023 at 6:16 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://lifeonthetopfloor.com/2020/01/19/lispirazione-e-champagne/

  28. meritking Says:
    August 10th, 2023 at 6:14 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    http://www.owcar.com/home.php?mod=space

  29. izmir escort Says:
    August 28th, 2023 at 1:11 am

    izmir escort

    izmir escort sitesi gururlar sunar.

  30. child porn Says:
    September 4th, 2023 at 3:50 pm

    child porn

    best porn web site click and go watch porn.

  31. fuck google Says:
    September 12th, 2023 at 4:29 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    http://www.piotak.com/sp-63-bydgoszcz-oraz-6-inowroclaw-mistrzami-k-plo-w-kategorii-dzieci-rocznika-2009/

  32. xxlargeseodigi Says:
    October 1st, 2023 at 9:21 am

    xxlargeseodigi

    xxlargeseodigi seo hizmetleri

  33. bağcılar escort Says:
    October 13th, 2023 at 8:10 am

    bağcılar escort

    bağcılar escort sitesi ile bağcılar escort bayanlar burada.

  34. porn Says:
    October 15th, 2023 at 8:24 pm

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://sylkegall.com/melanie-kaltenbach/

  35. fuck google Says:
    October 29th, 2023 at 10:10 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://tokopelangiindah.com/?p=45

  36. izmir travesti Says:
    December 14th, 2023 at 12:48 pm

    izmir travesti

    izmir travesti

  37. porn Says:
    December 20th, 2023 at 5:23 am

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://artesgraficasvenus.com/cliente-del-mes-2/

  38. konyaaltı escort Says:
    December 23rd, 2023 at 12:27 am

    konyaaltı escort

    konyaaltı escort

  39. karabük escort Says:
    December 26th, 2023 at 1:09 am

    karabük escort

    karabük escort

  40. porno izleme sitesi Says:
    January 7th, 2024 at 7:48 am

    porno izleme sitesi

    porno izleme sitesi

  41. hd porno izle Says:
    January 7th, 2024 at 5:39 pm

    porno izleme sitesi

    porno izleme sitesi

  42. datça escort Says:
    January 15th, 2024 at 9:35 am

    datça escort

    datça escort

  43. yasam ayavefe Says:
    January 23rd, 2024 at 5:14 am

    yasam ayavefe

    yasam ayavefe

  44. kralbet Says:
    January 28th, 2024 at 8:21 am

    kralbet

    kralbet

  45. grandpashabet Says:
    February 26th, 2024 at 3:01 pm

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://www.rivellomultimediaconsulting.com/flash-camp-brasil-whats-new-in-flex-4/

  46. grandpashabet Says:
    March 1st, 2024 at 3:33 pm

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://labrecipes.com/kfc-original-secret-chicken-recipe-2/

  47. child porn Says:
    March 11th, 2024 at 9:50 pm

    When free speech creates disorder or hate | Media Law Journal

    https://www.modellismopiu.net/m gallerie/main.php?g2_itemId=1176716