General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Not liking an offensive movie is not an excuse to riot and kill people. [View all]Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)I mean in one day I can see people screaming about how teachers have no right to strike, or express political opinions... and then the next thread over, people falling over themselves in a self-congratulatory orgy of "defending free speech" for a Klan rally or something.
And yes yes, clichéd Voltaire quote... if I had a nickel for every time someone spouted that off on the internet, I'd own my own home and twelve acres of land. Hate to tell you, mr. Fawkes, but your right to speech doesn't work in quite the elementary school way you seem to think it does.
First, it's a law restricting Congress. It's not a law restricting your fellow citizens, or for that matter the judicial branch. Laws may not be passed that would abridge your right or ability to speak, but there is nothing stopping your neighbors from taking you to task for what you say... or taking you to court. Those courts have found that not all forms of speech are worthy of protection under our first amendment; intimidation for instance. Libel, slander, and incitement are others. Hate speech in commission of a crime adds to the severity of a sentencing, as can statements of intent.
That is to say, the United States legislature could not pass a law outright banning the production of films like this. However this in no way prevents say, an ambassador's family from seeking suit against a filmmaker if they feel the filmmaker's expression caused, even if just in part, the death of their loved one. There is nothing halting the court from finding the case in their favor, either. For that matter, it's within the bounds of congress's to exclude certain forms and degrees of speech from first amendment protection, similar to how certain forms of weaponry are excluded from 2nd amendment protections (the right to keep and bear arms does not apply to ICBM's, for example).
So far as I've seen, nobody's asking for such a ban - at least not here in the states. But some of us are pointing out that the filmmaker created what, in European standards would be a clear and flagrant example of obvious hate speech... and what's more the producers have stated they knew it would probably result in riots and violence, and that's why they went ahead with it.
it's not that the government needs to crack down. it's that the people who started this mess need to pay for their share of the responsibility in what happened.