Bloggers say EU law will end free speech
By Bruno Waterfield in Luxembourg
Last Updated: 11:25am BST 20/04/2007
# Bloggers sound the alarm
British bloggers said yesterday that free speech on the internet is under threat from draconian new laws, which could see them jailed for up to three years.
Europe's justice ministers have agreed genocide denial and race hatred legislation that will outlaw remarks on the internet "carried out in a manner likely to incite violence or hatred".
The measures are contained in the European Union's Racism and Xenophobia Directive and could hit controversial European bloggers, even if their websites are hosted in America.
Chris Mounsey, the 29 year old behind The Devil's Kitchen blog, said: "There is potential for this to have worldwide application. Free speech is at the centre of blogging. Part of the reason bloggers can tell the truth is because it is difficult to pin them down. This law tries to do it."
The legislation goes beyond German or Austrian-style bans on denial of the Holocaust to cover those people who question the official history of recent conflicts in Africa and the Balkans.
The directive is set to enter British law before 2010. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "We don't need yet more law to combat racial hatred and incitement to violence. We already have British law dating back to 1861."
Bloggers sound the alarm
Last Updated: 11:23am BST 20/04/2007
# Bloggers say EU law will end free speech
The Devil's Kitchen A disgusting and repressive law.
A Western Heart The creeping totalitarianism of the EU.
Iain Dale In defence of free speech.
Ministry of truth What are the European Union trying to achieve?
EU Referendum This will badly affect the freedom and rights of bloggers.
Brussels Journal An appalling piece of legislation that has to be stopped.
Melanie Phillips Once ideas are criminalised - including Holocaust denial - we are all sunk.
England Expects I rather like the English common law system thank you very much.
Is there more to life than shoes? The European Commission are using the deaths of six million people to get more power.
Dizzy thinks People who deny the holocaust are batty as fruitcakes, but the act of doing so should not be something that is restricted.
Jeremy Jacobs I fear for the future of the United Kingdom.
Little Green footballs This ludicrous deal stems from a good impulse.
Not Saussure is not so sure that the other bloggers have got it right. The EU draft proposal in pdf format is here.
As for my take on it, I will reserve my counsel until I have read it a few more times and thought about it a bit more. But, my initial thought is that Devils Kitchen has brewed up a storm in a tea cup.
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
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