‘Misinformation’ the media and ‘thought police’ cry, without providing any evidence that those they accuse of misinformation are in fact spreading falsehoods. Nowadays, simply to have a different opinion, even a scientifically substantiated one, labels you a domestic terrorist.
We desperately need independent media in this country and the immediate restoration of rights, instead of made up rules and made up crimes, such as ‘misinformation’. If something someone says is false, say so. Address the issue, don’t slander the person. Give the other person the right of reply and if necessary, agree to disagree.
The danger to democracy is not free speech and people who disagree with you, but the notion that people should not be able to speak freely and disagree with you.
Apart from the endeavour to destroy rights involving a massive waste of resources that could be going into actually caring about people, what the ‘thought police’ seem oblivious of is that ultimately who they are hurting is themselves; at some point they themselves will fall foul of the dictatorship regime they are at pains to engineer.
Our forebears fought for freedom and rights so we could have freedom. We honour them in standing for our freedom.
Carolyn Stock, Otūmoetai.