Free Speech?

In the lecture in week eight, we talked about cyberspace and censorship, politics and the internet ... it was very interesting - the censorship part was what grabbed me the most. I always knew that we didn't have free speech here in Australia. I think a lot of people believe we do - we have something similar, but we can be arrested for practicing free speech ... I guess if it incites violence or mayhem? Even if it just pisses someone powerful off, I'm pretty sure we can be arrested and thrown in jail for voicing our opinions.

I believe we're very lucky to be living in Australia all the same. We may not have the "free speech" bit like the United States does, however we still manage to voice opinions, can congregate in large groups to protest ... we are not as sheltered or as naive as countries such as China.

Maybe it's even safe to say that not having the right to free speech, works better for us. I think with America having the right to say whatever they want often leads to more violence, racial hatred and anti-semitism. As many upsides as the United States have, they are an extremely racist country (even though many people who live there try to say they're not).

Australia is by no means close to being perfect or non-racist, however I'm happy with the ways things are in that regard at the moment. If i were to see a "God Hates Fags" protest in my local town for instance, I would want those people arrested immediately.

But that's just me.