DISCUSS: Mass shootings, “conspiracy theories” & free speech
This past month has seen an influx of news stories, all somehow featuring the supposed negative effects of “online misinformation”, “hate speech” and/or “conspiracy theories”.
In New Zealand a few days ago, one couple had their baby placed in the care of a hospital after refusing to approve a surgical procedure unless they could be sure their child would receive unvaccinated blood transfusions.
Their position was blamed on consuming “misinformation” and “conspiracy theories”.
Three weeks ago, in Colorado Springs, there was a reported mass shooting at a gay bar. The suspect, Anderson Lee Aldrich (who was, of course, “known to the FBI”) allegedly killed 5 and wounded 18.
Within days, a new report co-authored by several so-called civil rights groups was calling on Biden to change his strategy on “domestic terrorism”.
At the Club Q shooting congressional hearings this week, apart from the predictable urges to “act on guns”, witnesses have testified that “harmful rhetoric” was to blame for the shooting, and “hate speech turns into violence”.
Papers are publishing opinion pieces citing the “dangers” of “too much free speech”.
Just two days ago, in Australia, a shooting took place in Queensland, where two police officers and one neighbour were allegedly shot by three suspects, who were then shot and killed by tactical police units.
The deceased suspects were immediately linked to “conspiracy websites”. Australian politicians are already talking about new laws to combat “misinformation” and “draw this poison out of our nation”:
“The spread of disinformation on the internet and the way in which that infects people’s minds, and changes their whole persona, their whole perspective and causes them to commit or contributes at least to them committing extreme acts, it should be of concern to any right-thinking Australian,”
The shooting occurred just two weeks after Australia’s “terror alert” was reduced for the first time in eight years, and just days after Interior Minister Clare O’Neal warned they needed to review their anti-terror legislation.
And running along in the background of all these stories is Elon Musk’s “reforming” of Twitter being blamed for a supposed increase in hate speech.
It’s not too hard to see where this wind is blowing. It seems, possibly in the wake of the stuttering failure of the Covid narrative, that The Party are turning their crosshairs on the platforms that stalled the pandemic, so that they can run unopposed next time.
But what do you think?
- Is free speech too dangerous to exist?
- What will Biden’s next moves on “domestic terrorism” look like?
- Will Australia introduce new legislation to deal with misinformation?
- Are all these incidents genuine, or false flags?
- Is Elon Musk really championing free speech, or setting us up for a fall?
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References:
- https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3759813-civil-rights-group-calls-on-biden-to-change-domestic-terrorism-strategy/
- https://apnews.com/article/shootings-violence-colorado-government-and-politics-8d2e713e85d1ba77239af88dd155c354
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrz1dfXWD0o
- https://www.miamitimesonline.com/opinion/the-danger-of-having-too-much-free-speech/article_48946ba6-7656-11ed-b170-ff675b13b452.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/13/australian-police-try-to-understand-conspiracies-that-led-to-shooting-deaths-of-two-officers-and-four-others
- https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/15/queensland-shooting-political-leaders-express-concern-over-potential-role-of-rightwing-extremism-in-deaths
- https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/28/australias-terrorism-threat-level-changes-to-possible-after-eight-years-as-probable
- https://www.dumptheguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/08/clare-oneill-warns-counter-terror-laws-may-need-to-change-to-better-handle-rightwing-extremism
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