Thought for the week

I READ with interest when Donald Trump was banned from using certain social media sites. I have to confess I’m not his greatest fan but I do defend any person’s right to free speech. However, that’s not an excuse to use words to damage others.

There is no doubt that a lot of harm has been caused, even to the point where youngsters have taken their own lives because of trolls and their venomous attacks.

Social media platforms have been instructed to police their own areas hence they ban certain people whose views are not in keeping with popular beliefs.

Even universities, which used to be the bastion of free speech and thought, where students were encouraged to debate and search for truth and some would play ‘devil’s advocate’ just for the sake of helping young people to work out what they believe and why, have now become areas of censorship of any contradictory views.

For me the role of policing the net should be in the hands of the police and crimes should be reported to them.

However, the problem here is one of anonymity. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that he had come as the light of the world but men loved the darkness because their deeds were evil.

If you extinguish the light (they crucified Jesus!) it’s easy to continue without having your deeds shown up for what they are (it didn’t work!).

What media sites should do, rather than censor free speech, is to make everyone register and make every posting traceable. That information should be freely available to the police.

When people are held accountable for their words they tend to use them far more carefully.