Dear Editor:
RE: The power of words and danger of lies, Jan. 14.
This editorial is unsettling. It uses the recent riot in the American Capitol to justify increased censorship here in Canada. Specifically, they say the newspaper says they will renew their “efforts to ensure misinformation, conspiracy theories and hateful, divisive rhetoric never appear on our social media pages.”
This issue isn’t just a one-off, Wellington Advertiser-only, position; indeed, it seems to be in line with the federal government’s plans to introduce legislation this spring that will regulate social media and “promote a safer and more inclusive” online environment. So, it’s a policy movement to be concerned about.
It appears as though the plan of the current Canadian government, and its funded media, is to cherry-pick stories from around the world, to justify further restrictions on our free speech until there is nothing left. What started as a few, reasonable limitations on free speech, such as the oft-quoted “you can’t yell fire in a crowded theatre,” has somehow evolved into “you can’t hurt someone’s feelings” and also “you can’t disagree with me.”
If this distinction might seem trivial, it isn’t. We are heading towards a Soviet-style, thought police: if there’s a disagreement, the government will be brought in to adjudicate, and the person with the least virtuous, non-government approved position, gets sanctioned. It’s already happening: political correctness is being enforced as law. We need to stop this madness.
It wasn’t that long ago when everyone in Canada had the freedom to think and speak their mind, and the government only concerned itself if the physical actions of the person broke the law. And when we were exposed to these wonderfully diverse, and often controversial viewpoints, everyone had the freedom to do their own critical thinking, and decide where they stood.
Oh, and about those rioters that stormed the U.S. Capitol buildings? Lock’em up of course.
But it’s pure political opportunism to use this event to justify passing more, over-reaching censorship laws.
Brant Watson,
Centre Wellington
*Editor’s note: The social media changes made by the Advertiser and alluded to in this letter were not made in response to the U.S. Capitol insurrection of Jan. 6. The Advertiser decided some time ago to implement the changes early in 2021 in response to increased misinformation and vitriol contained in comments on our social media pages and in correspondence sent directly to us.