odespinner

There is a worrying trend in state control of communications and laws that forbid critical comments of a country’s leader.

There are laws which restrict what can be said if the words used incite racial hatred or encourage the illegal overthrow of a government or monarchy. But if one merely makes fun of a public figure, that should not be a criminal offence. If that public figure is dead, if you make disrespectful comments that might offend or upset some people, but does that require state intervention?

Modern neo Nazis could easily be offended if you mocked Adolf Hitler, but no one is suggesting that such public mockery be criminalised. Even if you were extremely scathing about the work of Mother Teresa and upset millions of Catholics around the world, there would be no moral justification for punishing the offender. Free speech is a fundamental democratic right, and the measure of good government