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Democracy in action

By Mathew Ingram, mathewi@interlog.com.

     My name is Mathew Ingram, and I'm a journalist in Toronto. As you
     might expect, this means I have more than a passing interest in
     freedom of speech -- and I take this to mean even (and perhaps
     especially) bad, hateful, irritating and/or stupid speech.
     Someone once said that it is easy to defend speech we agree with
     and find pleasing, but much harder to stick to our principles
     when it is something we disagree with strongly or find morally
     repugnant. This is clearly a point that has been lost on the
     various legislative bodies in our large neighbour to the south.

     However, it is something I think we must all remain committed to
     -- and I think that the Internet, in all its bizarre and
     occasionally ridiculous glory and diversity, is a living example
     of that principle. It is filled with human beings making
     themselves heard and/or seen for whatever reasons and to whatever
     purposes they feel are important. That is a deep-seated human
     desire, and it is one that shouldn't be extinguished simply
     because a lot of blinkered old men are trying to make political
     points, or because some sheltered souls somewhere have gotten
     offended at the thought that naked human beings might be glimpsed
     somewhere on the Internet by accident.

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