"Groups" want FCC to police "Hate speech" on the web
My cousin turned me on to this entry on "The Hill"
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is being urged to monitor "hate speech" on talk radio and cable broadcast networks.
A coalition of more than 30 organizations argue in a letter to the FCC that the Internet has made it harder for the public to separate the facts from bigotry masquerading as news.
The groups also charge that syndicated radio and cable television programs "masquerading as news" use hate as a profit model.
"As traditional media have become less diverse and less competitive, they have also grown less responsible and less responsive to the communities that they are supposed to serve," the organizations wrote to the FCC. "In this same atmosphere hate speech thrives, as hate has developed as a profit-model for syndicated radio and cable television program masquerading as 'news.'"
The Hill: Groups want FCC to police hate speech on talk radio, cable news networks
There are a couple of problems with this...
Free speech is free speech. Even the ACLU recognized the Klan's right to spread their ignorance in Skokie, IL. We either have it or we don't. It doesn't matter if that free speech is in the form of a march or broadcast on radio or TV.
These "groups" (usually read liberals) consider any statement that contradicts their views to be hate speech. They use this tactic because most of their arguments cannot stand up to facts and figures. Those arguments almost always fail under the hate filled question, "Who's going to pay for this?"
It is interesting to note many of these "groups" complaining about hate speech on the airwaves have absolutely no problem comparing comparing President Bush with Hitler. This they don't consider hate speech.
Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself.
- Potter Stewart