A Scottish man was recently convicted for sending a tweet that was deemed offensive. The tweet was disgusting, saying that the only good British soldier is a dead one. Freedom of speech protects our right to make offensive and disgusting statements. Rather than prosecute those who are intentionally offensive, we should recognize such statements for what they really mean. As Gus Van Horn puts it, individuals have a right to “broadcast to the world the ill-coded message I am an ass. Notice me!”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has joined the chorus calling for antitrust charges to be filed against Facebook. She joins a host of conservatives, including Ted Cruz, who are arguing that the company should be persecuted. The New York Representative said that other nations are upset about the “disinformation” that Facebook is exporting. Apparently, her own comments are not to be included in the list of statements that are false.
Last weekend, truckers in Canada staged a protect against the nation’s vaccine mandate. Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, said, “Canadians are not represented by this very troubling, small but very vocal minority of Canadians who are lashing out at science, at government, at society, at mandates and public health advice.” According to Trudeau, if you oppose government vaccine mandates then you are against science, government, and public health officials. I followed the science and the advice from public health officials and have been fully vaccinated. And I oppose any mandate that requires individuals to be vaccinated. Vaccination is a choice that individuals should make, not a mandate imposed by government.