Reference List

Hill, Ruth. (2009). Outrage after Paul Henry comments. Retrieved May 8, 2011, from http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv/3105030/Outrage-after-Paul-Henry-comments

Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Human rights in New Zealand today. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from http://www.hrc.co.nz/report/chpters/chapter08/expression01.html

Kelly, Jon. (2011). Why do people tell sick jokes about tragedies? Retrieved May 4, 2011, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12775389

Ng, Keith. (2010). On freedom of speech. Retrieved May 12, 2011, from http://publicaddress.net/onpoint/on-freedom-of-speech/

Voltaire. (n.d.). Retrieved May 12, 2011, from http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/95nov/voltaire.html

All too often people are throwing around this idea that they ‘have the right to Freedom of Speech’ when someone challenges a comment they’ve made. Today I conducted an experiment playing the devils advocate on a few fellow bloggers. What an experience. Man did I get my head ripped off. There was one blogger in particular that stood out. After I expressed my opinion on his particular topic, he quickly claimed his right to freedom of speech and let me know that I was stopping him from exercising his right. That’s the thing with free speech. You have to be able to accept that everyone else is entitled to his or her own opinions too. I never once told him that his views were not valid. I was simply just giving the other side of the story. He probably just needs to grow a pair and take the criticism being handed.

As long as we fulfill our responsibilities to freedom of speech there should be nothing stopping us from expressing our views. They may be dickheads but who are we to tell them otherwise? Next time someone says something offensive, why don’t we all take a leaf out of Elanor Roosevelt’s book? In the words of the late and great, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”. The next time you feel a ‘Jake the Muss’ coming along because of something someone has said, climb a bridge and get over it. God knows we have better things to worry about then he said, she said.

Free Speech: Offensive Speech

“Have you heard the one about the tsunami that killed thousands of people?”

It probably goes without saying, but poking fun at a natural disaster after thousands have just died is a pretty shitty thing to do. But regardless of its crappy factor (no pun intended) these bastards sporting cheap jokes are not in breach of their responsibilities to freedom of speech. They’re entitled to say what they please and the retribution they receive could be considered injustice.

A dashing old Frenchman once said, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend till death your right to say it.” I personally like the misquote, “I may not agree with what Paul Henry said, but I will defend to the death my right to say that he’s a cunt for saying it.”

Free Speech: Know your limits

Cue in the limitations of free speech. Many argue if there should be any. What they don’t realise is that when we are exercising our ability to speak freely we are actually asking the courts to protect our ‘right’ to, or to not speak. It’s kind of similar to the idea of respect. You have to give something to get it. Or in other words, we have responsibilities as a trade off for freedom to speak.

In New Zealand there is only minor restrictions, these being:

a) For respect of the reputation or rights of others;

b) For the protection of national security or of public order, or of public health or morals.

Fair trade really.

Free Speech: What's that?

For those of us that struggle to put two and two together, Freedom of Speech is the right to, well, speak freely. It’s our birth right to tell a guy to fuck off without being thrown in jail, even if that guy's a cop. It’s our right to tell a Mongrel Mob member he’s a wanker without ‘questionably’ disappearing the next day. It’s the right to yell “FIRE!” in a library, but not if you’re only testing your comedic skills on the 38^th level of a full building where the only way for anyone to possibly make it down safely would be to jump.

Obviously we all know that free speech is not this easy. In reality if you did tell a cop to fuck off they would probably find a way to throw you in jail. And if you got cheeky to the Mongrel Mob they’d probably beat the crap out of you.

Free Speech Intro

We’ve all heard them. The “Susan Boyle’s a retard’s” and the “God is King’s”. There are those comments that make you struggle to hold your tongue. One’s that make you want to cry. And don’t forget the comments that make you want to smash a bottle and go all 'Once were Warriors' on a guy. Or maybe that one's just me. There’s no denying that freedom of speech is a pain in the ass at times. But should anyone be able to punish another for voicing his or her opinion?