No government should legislate a point of view!

Tue, Jul 20, 2010

EDITOR: “We’re drifting into slavery, and soon we will not be free” are two lines from our Freedom Song that I must consider when I ponder about what is happening in the world today with regards to the RIGHTS and FREEDOMS of man.{{more}}

While reading a news piece in the SEARCHLIGHT newspaper last weekend called “ Minister Thompson challenges media”, I noticed that a broadcasting bill has been in draft for some time now by the government of SVG, but what caught my attention was a paragraph in the article which stated: “He noted that there is a Telecommunication Act which regulated the technical aspects of broadcast, and there are also laws pertaining to libel, defamation of character and misuse of media, but there is nothing to regulate television, radio and newspaper content.”

I asked myself, what baleful contradiction is this? There are also laws pertaining to libel, defamation of character and misuse of media, but there is nothing to regulate television, radio and newspaper content. How can this be?

No government should legislate a view, after all “a person shall not be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and information without interference (whether the communication be to the public generally or to any person or class of persons) and freedom from interference with his correspondence,” according to our 1979 constitution, which seeks to protect the God given Rights and freedoms of men.

Exceptions are cases where a person or group of persons called for a murder of a people or group of people or call for the destruction of another private property and/or libel and slander, which is the defaming of a person’s character. These are the right laws for any government to make seeing that these behaviours are anti-rights and freedoms.

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led like sheep to the slaughter.”

– George Washington

Karima Parris