Abstract

Article

The Acting PMand the Treasurer, along with others such as media people who have an interest in abusing free speech for their own interests, have been making wild statements by invoking the mosst valuable treasure of freedom of speech in a most indelicate way.

They were decrying the prohibitions imposed on Trump from using social media to lie flagrantly in an inflamatory way that could armed supporters to illegal insurrection. Yet they had been demanding the removal of a contrived photo showing an Australian soldier killing a young Afghan, despite anews rport that such an incident had taken place according to the reportof the inquiry into war crimes. Even assuming that the photo had no foundation in fact, the point is that thee proponents of total freedom of speech abandoned the rubric when it suited them.

There is no total freedom of speech,though the freedom that is there shouold be wide and jealously guarded.

Treason and defamation are two notable exceptionsunder the Law,which is generally accepted by civilized people.  Even the right to incite peple to revolt against oppressive regimes is necessary.  But there is a limit, and when demagogues try to incite an excitable crowd.which is armed and dangerous into conduct which could welll be violent, communication organizations are very much entitled to withhold their services.

Would our advocates of unrestricted free speech condone the persistent publication of speech by an extremist wwho continuallydescribed Trump as a danger to the Americanpeople ant that anyone who assassinated him would be a patriot performing  great deed for the benefit of his country? Perhaps not, but would that be because they are themselves Trump supporters.

Nwin Australia, when the ABC has been penalised in defamation in respect of egregious untrue statements about an apparently decent Australian/Chinese businessman and philantropist, the media raise the cry of Freedom of Speech, in order to allow them to escape punishment for wantonly and wrongly dstroying the reputation of ordinary people through their incompetence, malice,or merely to trry to make a story sensational, no matter how wrong it is.  Already, they escape by bordering on the edge of suggestion without actually saying what they imply, so that when they are called to answer, they can cravenly claim that they did not intend the meaning complained of.

Freedom of politicalspeech is most valuable - too valuable to be threatened by the adverse wash caused by the abuse of the freedom!!  Those who abuse it are guilty of grave harm to society.