Fake News for Big Brother

Declan McCullagh declan at well.com
Thu May 1 10:43:37 PDT 2003


At 06:30 PM 5/1/2003 +0100, David Howe wrote:
 >> Nope. but they should be prosecuted if they front-page splash it as
> >> "earth doomed, we have two weeks to live, there is no hope" and fail
> >> to mention that it is a religious prediction
> > Prosecuted? Put in prison? What the hell are you thinking?
>   That it is no different from shouting "fire" in a crowded theatre -
>which appears to be the standard example in this sort of discussion.

First, it's "falsely shouting fire," and second, I wonder how you would 
draw a distinction between a newspaper saying that, someone saying that on 
this list, and someone saying it in a public park. Imprison all of 'em?

> > You're a bit of a censorial twit, aren't you?
>   If you chose to see it that way, yes. Enough holocaust deniers have
>tried to duke it out in court and lost that I am more than a bit
>sceptical about yet another one. The deeds of the nazis were so dark the
>term "war crime" was almost invented to deal with them - certainly the
>hague court was - and the nazis are such an obvious black reference
>point that almost anyone seems clean by comparison.

The problem is that if you create a rule that can be used to imprison the 
Holocaust deniers (a loathsome sort, I agree), it can be used to jail those 
who challenge the conventional orthodoxy, even if they believe they're 
right. More to the point, even if they *are* right.

-Declan





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