Tuesday 18 August 2015

‘Bloggers are harming MPs,’ says MP. Diddums? [updated]

Four days after the introduction of its new law clamping down on internet speech, the government’s new Harmful Digital Communications Act is being let loose to chill political speech

Irony on irony here. Because the speech attacked is that of chief youth supporter of NZ First Curwen Ares Rolinson, an advocate of a bigger more aggressive state, who is being accused of “harmful” speech by his party’s recently-ousted deputy leader.

The bloggers, says the poor dear, are harming the MPs. And before you say “diddums,” realise that this is precisely the speech the Act is intended to and is going to catch. “I’ve been working on the Harmful Digital Communications bill,” says the self-important bitch, “and what Curwen [Rolinson] did, what Whaleoil [blogger Cameron Slater] does, that’s harmful digital communications.”

Says David Seymour, the only MP to actively oppose the Act’s introduction:

Defending free speech usually involves sticking up for people you wouldn’t really want to have over for dinner. Curwen Rolinson is one of these people, but it’s disgraceful that his own party is using the Harmful Digital Communications Act to supress political speech from only four days after it was passed into law. I said the law would chill free speech but I never imagined it would happen this quickly.
    If the Critic article is not accurate Tracey Martin should say so.

She hasn’t.

UPDATE: “I am not a lawyer,” says Eric Crampton, “but if the allegations are not truthful, and they were published, then it would seem that defamation would have applied.”

Indeed.

“One wonders whether the point of the Bill, in the view of some MPs, was to silence critics.”

Exactly.

5 comments:

Jamie said...

Grass-Rat-Bitch!!! You politicians are all fuckin lowlife dogs.

New Communications Bill to prevent revenge porn....Yeah Right

Ya'll know where to find me...

https://r1016132.wordpress.com/2015/06/27/such-is-life/

Word of warning you'll have to lock me up coz I ain't paying no bloodsuckers, even if I had the cash

Jamie said...

Ohh someone called me a bad name I'm telling on you. FFS!!! There ain't a bad name under the sun I haven't been yelled at in my time in the NZARMY.

I'll be expecting answers on this [I would comment here http://puttingnzfirst.blogspot.co.nz/ but I don't have one of those types of accounts]

And NZ First can kiss my support good bye if they don't un-F*ck themselves and these fascist-type laws

I can't stand snitches

Jamie said...

I'll leave it with you for a bit Peter. I will be following up on this. Mark My Words

Lindsay Mitchell said...

Democracy requires representation of dissenting viewpoints. That secures Ms Martin's above-average income. Shame she can't see the irony.

Jamie said...

Question. Have any of the 'adults' bothered to ask how much all this bollocks is gonna cost???

Or are they just planning on handing out enough fines to make it pay for itself???