Our freedom is in trouble

In this new environment of highly manipulated fear, free speech is again coming under focused attack, and our overall freedom now trembles.

Last August the Auckland Council shut down publicly funded venues to host two speakers who were unpopular with the Left, with the PM stating that, “Their views are not those that are shared by this country.” (A sold-out venue and 79 per cent pro-speech Newshub poll indicated she was incorrect).

Don Brash was prevented from speaking at Massey University last August by vice-chancellor Jan Thompson, citing “security concerns”. She was later found to have been lying, adding to an already inaccurate assumption about Dr Brash being racist.

Coalition MP Golriz Ghahraman has long advocated the regulation of free speech, last year saying that, “I think future generations are going to look at us and laugh that we don’t regulate,” and last week again with, “I think future generations will be astounded that we’re so behind in regulating hate speech and online harm (most modern democracies do). Next steps NZ!”

Then the Christchurch Coward enabled an effective manipulation of our current politicians, the media, even many of our own people, and the fallout is quickly becoming destructive and divisive, in contrast to current media claims. This manipulation has now spread to that pillar of our society that we have lived under and lived for, and sacrificed our blood to keep whole.

Freedom of Speech.

Since the coward’s attack, left wing groups and commentators have pushed to have others’ views and accounts shut down, with varying degrees of success, leading to observations like that of Muslim commentator Maajid Nawaz, that “radical Islamists and radical Leftists have seized on the Christchurch tragedy to push their own hateful agendas.”

The two sides of the political spectrum have been set against each other; the licensed firearms community of law-abiding, tax-paying New Zealanders have become the political punching bag, evacuations and cancellations of events have occurred, and even the media have been described as being “ghoulish and deeply disturbing”. (Brendan O’Neill, Spiked).

The coward’s video was banned, and rightly so, but a decision was made to ban the text document, banning our ability to freely engage and destroy the coward’s ideology.

Calls have gone out to shut down anything that can be described as ‘white nationalism,’ ‘alt-right,’ with no real knowledge as to the underlying issues that set the coward on his path. Reactions are following reactions, culminating in an observed lacerating of our free speech under this government, which appears compromised by the coward’s manipulation of fear.

Freedom is one of the cornerstone pillars of our society and culture. We will not allow fear to replace that, and we will stand to ensure that our free speech allows public engagement with all speech; to debate, accept, reject, to keep free for all our people.

"Since the coward’s attack, left wing groups and commentators have pushed to have others’ views and accounts shut down ..."