this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
561 points (99.1% liked)
Melbourne
2090 readers
36 users here now
This community is a place created for the people of Melbourne and Victoria. We are a positive, welcoming and inclusive community. We might not agree about everything, but we always strive to stay civil and respectful.
The focus of our discussions is based around things that affect Victoria, but we are also free to discuss our local perspective on wider issues. Or head to the regular Daily Random Discussion thread to talk about anything.
Ongoing discussions, FAQs & Resources (still under construction)
Adoption Certificate for Nellie, the Daily Thread numbat (with thanks to @Catfish)
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I'm conflicted on this. On one hand Nazis were fucking shitty people, and Neo-Nazis are shitheads too. On the other hand, freedom of speech/expression is super important. Even for these shitbirds.
Like, I don't know for sure, doesn't Australia have freedom of speech and stuff? If the people (even non-Nazis) don't say anything about this, then is it possible the government will start banning other shit? Like flipping the bird.
But also, yeah, fuck those guys.
We don't have a properly defined freedom of speech right, although our high court has ruled that we have an implied freedom of "political communication"
https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/rights-and-freedoms/freedom-information-opinion-and-expression
Which truly doesn't matter as we are a part of the various treaties and international frameworks mentioned on that site. Treaty law is just as valid as domestic law and as long as that is held we have a right to freedom of speech with the minor caveats of not allowing racist scum to speak freely.