Moral conundrum

Re: “Bill on media council gets cabinet nod,” (BP, Jan 13).

When we read in “Bill on media council gets cabinet nod” that “the exercise of media freedoms must not infringe on social mores”, all who value good public morals will be deeply concerned. This must be so since being a social mores never has and cannot of itself guarantee that any belief, custom, or attitude is morally good.

But not only does the proposed bill on media ethics oppose good public morals, it directly contradicts foundational democratic principle. You cannot claim to support democracy if at the same time you deny the expression of ideas merely because they are unpopular, because they “infringe on (existing) social mores”.

Good persons who value sound ethics will reject legislation that both panders to unquestioned social mores that may well be in need of correction, and that blatantly contradicts democratic principle.

FELIX QUI