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.”
Followers of Curwen Ares Rolinson – whose numbers appear to be legion! – might appreciate this interview with Mark Thornton, expanding on today's Mises Daily article reviewing the cases of Portugal and Washington state, and askin: have the fears of the prohibitionists been realised?
Mark provides some additional details on how the decriminalisation program has worked in Portugal, contrasting decriminalisation with the legalisation that has been implemented in Colorado and Washington State.
A politician should (as I have read) Be furnish’d in the first place with a head… - short poem, after a painting by Hogarth
Portrait of a young man who was in a hurry
When a young man wants to go into politics he may take two paths. One will choose the path of principle, choosing a party that matches his values and fighting across the length of his career to put them into practice. Another will identify the rotting carcass of a party with a regular turnover of tailor’s dummies sitting MPs for whom lack of ability is no barrier to parliamentary honours, and seek to ingratiate himself therein.
Curwen Ares Rolinson was the second kind of young man.
Described variously as “a “one-man nationalist revolution”,” “the biggest statist douche I have met,” and a “statist neo-Nazi asshole” – and this is by young people who know him -- Rolinson was a huge believer in big government, in the wit and wisdom of Winston Peters, and for many years was a board member of NZ First and the leading member of their “youth wing.” Truth be told, he was its only member.
Rolinson would regularly assail passersby and other aspiring young politicians about the virtues of big government, about the need for greater law and regulation, about the dangers of human freedom that could only be curtailed if hedged around by rules. Politicians in his view ruled people’s lives, and he wanted to be a politician. Passionately.
Bruce Yandle has written copiously on the kindred relationship of Bootleggers and Baptists, two big and distinctly different groups who yet both support big regulation – especially on things that give people pleasure.
The metaphorical “Baptists” point to the moral high ground and give vital and vocal endorsement of laudable public benefits promised by a desired regulation. Baptists flourish when their moral message forms a visible foundation for political action. “Bootleggers” are much less visible but no less vital. Bootleggers, who expect to profit from the very regulatory restrictions desired by Baptists, grease the political machinery with some of their expected proceeds. They are simply in it for the money.
It turns out Rolinson was both a Baptist and Bootlegger – maybe using the money from the latter to help climb up the greasy pole to do more of the former.
Like I say, for that second kind of chancer, neither ironic nor surprising.
But in the end, Rolinson has been hoisted on a petard not yet of his own making, but the size and violence of which he has spent his short youth applauding.
As a passionate supporter myself of human freedom, it’s clear that if Rolinson is guilty of anything on the crime front however it is assuredly a victimless crime – a crime with “neither criminal nor victim,” whose own young political adversaries are already coming out in his support.
As must I. However odious the recipient of my support. Because to paraphrase Ayn Rand, while
it is not very inspiring to fight for the freedom of would-be statists. … the disgusting nature of the offender makes it a good test of one's loyalty to a principle.
PS: Leader of the NZ First carcass Winston Peters has leapt into print to declare Winston First does not have a youth wing, has never had a youth wing … and is now and has always been at war with Eurasia.
UPDATE:In the interests of fairness, the young man discussed in the article above would
respectfully contend that to ALL THOSE who truly know me, the very opening paragraph of this article [here at NOT PC] stands out as testament to the malign and malicious cavalcade of carnivorous falsehoods which feather out the full length of this perfidious and perfunctory piece.
a big success according to its organisers and in a way this is evidenced by the enormous criticism thrown at it by desperate left wing commentators and woefully inaccurate reporting by the establishment media. To counter this propaganda we are releasing a critical analysis of a number of these news stories and blogs so that the public may be made aware of the lengths these scumbaggery filth will go to protect the corruption, financial incompetence and lies of Auckland Mayor Len Brown.
