There’s free speech, and then there’s speech free of a moral base. Michael Brull explains the difference.
We constantly hear about how freedom of speech is under attack in Australia. Mostly, these calls ramp up when someone says something offensive about Muslims or Aboriginal people. If people request an apology, that is treated as some kind of vicious attack on freedom of speech.
Yet when it comes to issues close to the heart of right-wingers, entirely different values come into play. An illustrative example of this is the question of Palestine.
Contrary to their professed love of vigorous, offence-giving debate, what actually happens is that the rare signs of dissent are ferociously sought out and pounced upon.
Apologies are demanded and acquired, yet this is never regarded as a freedom of speech disaster by the freedom warriors. I will give two examples, one from the ABC, the other GetUp!
Read article by Michael Brull from New Matilda.