Free Speech is Threatened
29 January 2008
Here's one to watch carefully. Many informed voices on both the left and the right have raised the alarm that the so-called War on Terror is eroding our civil liberties. This concern is not without a solid basis. The following shows how perilously close we may be to committing a criminal act when we criticize government policy.
TERRORISM AND SPEECH
Joanne Mariner, Findlaw, 29 January 2008
International protections on free expression in no way restrict governments from criminally prosecuting direct incitement to terrorism — speech that directly encourages the commission of a crime, is intended to result in criminal action, and is likely to result in criminal action — whether or not criminal action does, in fact, result. (In the United States, where the Constitution imposes stricter protections for expression than found elsewhere, the courts have required that the prohibited incitement present a risk of 'imminent' criminal action.) Yet the legal trend globally is not only to criminalize direct incitement to terrorist activity, but to criminalize indirect incitement — to prohibit speech perceived as justifying, defending, or 'glorifying' terrorism. This, from the standpoint of free expression, is problematic. The British government has been a leader in this effort...
So if one says that the 'terrorists' have some justification for attacking us, because we have been interfering in their part of the world, does that amount to 'defending' terrorism? All one is doing is criticizing an interventionist foreign policy that enrages others as we would be enraged. The point is that retaliation (or 'blowback') is to be expected, not that it is to be condoned. But some hawkish judge could easily throw you in prison, if the trend continues. The alarmists definitely have a point, and it matters a great deal exactly how laws are worded. How ironic that the Brits, who championed modern liberal democracy, are now leading the new trend towards authoritarianism, or worse.
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John Dean: Worse Than Watergate
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