Dear Editor:
RE: Unsettling pattern, Jan. 21.
I am in total agreement with Brant Watson’s letter.
The last time I checked, we have freedom of speech enshrined in our Charter of Rights. I know historically, my grandparents’ generation fought, sacrificed and died to guarantee among other things our freedom to speak freely.
Now, the Wellington Advertiser is openly censoring our ability to communicate. To quote: “the Advertiser will be renewing our efforts to ensure misinformation, conspiracy theories and hateful, divisive rhetoric never appear on our social media pages.” You go on to offer to permanently ban those making the above statements.
How dare you denigrate the memory and sacrifices of those that fought against such vehemence as what you are proposing.
Please read your history. The first thing totalitarian type regimes institute is censorship, primarily with the media, and the line of censorship tends towards the government in power can do no wrong. This is not conspiratorial, but rather historical fact; Stalin censored the media, Hitler censored the media, Mao censored the media, and Jong-un censors the media. Any two-bit dictatorship censors the media almost as soon as they gain power.
I am highly concerned when I read an editorial that justifies censorship, and am horribly frightened to think that it can happen not only in Canada, but in our own backyard with a highly respected and successful media outlet such as the Wellington Advertiser.
I would like to finish by sharing a concept I learned by listening to Jordan Peterson: the concept is that in our earlier history, disputes were settled physically (whomever was strongest, or had the biggest weapon or army always won). As our society became more advanced, we found that the above method was neither productive nor beneficial (obviously to the loser, but ultimately to the winner as well).
What we did discover was that words and the power of the pen reduced and eventually eliminated the need for the “sword.” By censoring free speech (regardless of the slant) you begin to create a type of pressure cooker with no pressure release. Eventually it will blow, and the outcome will not be conducive to a civilized society.
Wayne Baker,
Wellington North