Was extreme right-wing BNP leader Nick Griffin’s appearance on the BBC’s Question Time a win for free speech or a loss for quality television? Guardian commentators and British MPs weigh in.
Freedom of speech
In tourism, even libel can be a world away
Libel tourism has been catapulted into the headlines after aviation writer Joe Sharkey was served a writ for defamatory statements he says he didn’t make in Brazil after surviving a mid-air collision in 2006.
Big Tobacco sues to keep ciggie packets smoker-friendly
In Australia, graphic anti-smoking photos on cigarette packets are now the norm. President Obama has signed a law for similar requirements in the US. But the tobacco industry is fighting back — with the first amendment.
Iranian government blocks Facebook
Critics of the Iranian government are up in arms over the apparent blocking of social networking site Facebook just weeks before the country heads to the polls.
So Conroy’s Internet filter won’t block political speech, eh?
Conroy’s protecting us from ped-philes, stopping terrorists, that sort of thing. It’s like the regulation we have for TV, films and books. Except it’s not. It’s not even close, writes Stilgherrian.
On freedom of speech and Gerald Fredrick Toben
We should be speaking up for him now, rather than waiting for a more appealing victim of this attack on free speech.
Nick Griffin: to visa or not to visa?
It’s hard to know how best to approach hate-mongers seeking to grace our shores, writes Irfan Yusuf.
News Corp’s press freedom hypocrisy
News Ltd chairman John Hartigan gave quite an entertaining and interesting address for the Andrew Olle memorial lecture last Friday. However, there was a touch of hypocrisy in some of his comments when you consider what his boss Rupert Murdoch was doing in New York a couple of hours later, writes Stephen Mayne.
Right To Know puts its money where its mouth is
A unique fundraising event on the weekend for an embattled former public servant has highlighted the softer side of the Right To Know coalition, writes Andrew Dodd.
Islamophobes of Australia: an award to die for
The Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah Association of Australia has announced on its website the “Abu Lahab Award: The Islamophobia Award for the worst Islamophobes in Australia. Details coming soon”.
