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A good definition of what free speech means

(69 Posts)
thatbags Sun 12-Mar-17 11:16:27

A free speech definition to work by by the Australian philosopher, Russell Blackford (@metamagician)

durhamjen Sun 12-Mar-17 16:16:50

I wonder what the wording would be in the contract, Maizie. It must come under the unfair terms act.

daphnedill Sun 12-Mar-17 16:18:23

I just Googled that tweet,*dj*. It was written in June 2016 and I've looked at the context. It would appear that Lisa Muggeridge had received a number of abusive tweets from Corbyn supporters about posts she had written on her blog and on Twitter.

It looks as though she does believe in free speech, but others were trying to shut her up. I remember reading about the shenanigans in the Labour Party last Summer and ending up thinking they should have their heads banged together.

MaizieD Sun 12-Mar-17 16:26:08

Those Anzac tweets are interesting, dd. If the guy had been a historian he could probably have said it all with no comeback as it's a different interpretation of events.

Though people don't like having the bad things in their history pointed out to them...

daphnedill Sun 12-Mar-17 16:30:20

I'm baffled too. What has the Australian Bible Society got to do with anything?

Russell Blackford, the person in your op, was referring to the sacking of the presenter who made the Anzac comments,when he tweeted the definition of free speech.

I Googled the definition and found it on Blackford's Twitter history. It was definitely in the context of the sacking.

PS. Actually, I'm incredibly baffled,because it appears that McIntyre was sacked two years ago in 2015, but Blackford only tweeted the link 5 hours ago. His definition of freedom of speech follows it on Twitter.

Ankers Sun 12-Mar-17 16:30:51

Not overtly, but what does be committed to the best possible outcome for the United Kingdom following its departure from the European Union mean if it doesn't mean 'You need to believe in Brexit'?

I dont know.

They dont appear to want moaning.

And the job is something to do with trade.

I would very much hope that believing in Brexit is not what they mean.

durhamjen Sun 12-Mar-17 16:32:57

Whenever it was said, daphne, or why, it certainly doesn't seem like she's advocating free speech, does it?
Free speech is okay providing it's my free speech but you are not allowed it. In fact, my idea of democracy is better than your idea of democracy, and you are not allowed to have democracy, is what she is saying. Put the peasants back in their places.

daphnedill Sun 12-Mar-17 16:49:46

dj It appears that the sacking was deemed unfair, but it was settled out of court, so a judge didn't have an opportunity to give a reason:

www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/lawyer-blasts-hypocrites-as-scott-mcintyre-settles-his-unfair-dismissal-case-with-sbs/news-story/1d3cb9e2906b3de4b44329ebae298368

Malcolm Turnbull was forced to deny that he brought undue influence to bear (ahem).

Norah Sun 12-Mar-17 16:51:03

"Not forgetting that the largest single-day terrorist attacks in history were committed by this nation & their allies in Hiroshima & Nagasaki"

Not in my opinion, those ^ bombings were an act of war, during WWII.

Ana Sun 12-Mar-17 16:53:17

I thught durhamjen was still going on about Lisa Muggeridge... confused

daphnedill Sun 12-Mar-17 16:58:08

But dj if you read the series of tweets, she was the one who was being bullied by Corbyn supporters (or people claiming to support Corbyn) and this was her reaction.

I saw for myself how both sides of the Labour Party were trying to shut each out last year. They're still at it on social media and I have to say the ones on the left are coming out with the worse insults.

You probably know that Gorton CLP was suspended last year. DD witnessed what was going on first hand and it's her view that it was the Corbyn supporters who were doing most of the agitating and trying to stop free speech. It's still relevant as they try to decide who will stand as Labour candidate in the forthcoming by election.

durhamjen Sun 12-Mar-17 17:56:13

Ask whitewave about who is trying to shut down Brighton CLP.

MaizieD Sun 12-Mar-17 18:07:43

Not in my opinion, those bombings were an act of war, during WWII.^

I wasn't debating the rightness or wrongness of what he said. Just that different interpretations can be made of historical events.

daphnedill Sun 12-Mar-17 19:54:09

I'm not going to waste time discussing the rights and wrongs of individual cases. As far as I'm concerned, as a semi-outsider but with a DD who has experienced the squabbles first-hand, it seems that the grassroots Labour Party is pathetic. There is too much trying to shut down freedom of speech by different factors and smear campaigns - again from various directions. There's way too much blame and virtually no positive solutions. It's like an out-of-control playground with nobody in charge.

I've just been reading Lisa Muggeridge's blogs. She does seem to be incoherent at times, but she keeps mentioning authoritarian grey haired old men, who try to dominate discussions. Maybe by coincidence, this was the experience of my DD (in Manchester) and my DS (in Leeds). You've picked one quote out of context, whereas the problem seems to be widespread.

durhamjen Sun 12-Mar-17 20:00:33

What do think about what May is trying to do about Brexit? She doesn't even want her own government or MPs to have freedom of speech about that.

rosesarered Mon 13-Mar-17 09:37:45

grin back to evil Tories now I see.

Norah Tue 14-Mar-17 17:02:40

MaizieD I think it's wrong to interpret WWII. confused

It was a war, and the bombings were defined acts of war. End of.

daphnedill Tue 14-Mar-17 17:06:19

Even Dresden? hmm

Acts of war need to be interpreted just like any aspect of history.

Norah Tue 14-Mar-17 17:13:22

Even Dresden. It was war, we devalue lives lost if we select only certain bits to appreciate (allies aid).