Musings —04.27.2017 12:42 PM
—“The National Enquirer for skinheads”
That’s the memorable (and accurate) description my colleague Andrew Tumilty – now cloistered in the Ontario budget lock-up – gave to Your Ward News. Here’s a link to his HuffPo piece, and a snippet of his thoughts, below:
Your Ward News is dangerous hate propaganda that, up until last year, was being delivered to the homes of people in Toronto and communities as far away as Niagara Falls. It used racist slurs on every page; included images meant to demean or intimidate women; its publisher has called for the legalization of rape; and, in a particularly disturbing piece of Photoshop work, Your Ward News has depicted opponents in Nazi gas chambers. Think of it as the National Enquirer for skinheads, and you have the right idea.
We live in a free society, people are able to hold whatever disgusting, indefensible opinions they see fit. Defenders of Your Ward News say this is a free-speech issue, and their rights are being denied. They are completely wrong on both counts.
First, it isn’t a free-speech issue. Hate speech is not protected as a free expression of ideas, nor should it be. Targeting any group with this sort of malicious hatred is dangerous because it can and does lead to violence in the real world. The reason you can’t yell “fire” in a crowded theatre is that people can and will get hurt. Willfully cultivating hatred against specific groups has the same effect, and is not protected, either.
Second, no one’s free speech is being denied by Minister Foote’s decision. The publishers are free to post their malignant beliefs online, or print up copies of their filth and hand them out themselves — as they continue to do. The minister’s decision simply means that Canada Post will not be doing the distribution for them.
I’m a gutless loser who posts hate and uses fake names. My web address, however, is 45.58.196.199. Find me and send me spam!