Freedom of speech needs to be rebalanced
Being safe from racial and religious abuse, and the freedom to pray in houses of worship, are key for any democracy. It’s time to think about the rights of the innocent, not the perpetrators, writes Dvir Abramovich.
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God help us that I even have to explain this, but as the Christchurch rampage heartbreakingly demonstrates, hateful words, vile slurs, conspiracy-theories, odious propaganda, scapegoating and demonisation of one religious group often escalates into real-life violence.
Words are bullets and can kill.
The gas chambers at Auschwitz did not begin with bricks and mortar — they began with ugly, dehumanising rhetoric that blamed the ills of German society on Jews.
We are all in the line of fire, and if we fail to counter and address this growing threat we will all lose.
There are those who argue that we should throw open the doors to hate-preachers and allow them to travel around the country with a bullhorn, spouting their in-your-face poisonous lies and stereotypes, and fanning the flames of bigotry.
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Many tend to underestimate the effect of hate speech, which devalues and mentally scars people, which justifies bullying, beatings and murder, and which is just plain dangerous.
The Supreme Court of Canada has held that incitement is not a legitimate expression of free speech, recognising that this virus has led to the death of millions and that it is among the most injurious activities known to humanity.
I launched the campaigns against David Icke, a serial antisemitic-monger, alt-right activist Gavin McInnes and anti-Muslim extremist Tommy Robinson because ignoring these individuals would have signalled to everyone that Australians find it acceptable, OK and normal to malign Jews and Muslims.
These angry voices, who cloak their racist swill under the democratic protections of free speech, test our values and standards as Australians.
We live in deeply-polarised, supercharged times, when bias-motivated incidents in our nation have skyrocketed, when civility has broken down, when radicalisation, by ISIS or neo-Nazis, results in domestic terrorism, and when once taboo trip-wires are being crossed.
After Christchurch, this debate can no longer be consigned exclusively to the precincts of theory and opinion pieces.
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Some argue that the marketplace of ideas will take care of incendiary, racist expression, because there is enough space for counterpoints. The problem is that the devastating harm has already been done, and no amount of good-arguments will remedy the victim’s real fear, ordeal and grief.
Simply siting back and saying, “Suck it up and learn to live with it” is not the way to go.
When people are told that Jews, Muslims, Hindus, women, those of African descent and the LGBTI community are bad, they feel empowered to demean, degrade and carry out attacks against them. Or commit atrocities that claim the lives of 50 innocent men, women and children.
Some, like the shooter in Christchurch, ingest the invectives, the “emotional call to arms”, the “It’s OK to be White” often espoused by “provocateurs” and demagogues, to the point that aggression and violence becomes their only outlet.
If history has taught us anything it’s that bigots at first proclaim their warped falsehoods and slanders, and in time, others act on them.
Verbal violence and physical violence are intimately connected, one preceding the other. Such toxic conduct creates a climate of intolerance and prejudice, and makes each one of us less secure and less comfortable walking the streets.
Freedom of speech has to be balanced with the need to limit the voices of rage and division who seek to blow on the embers of discord. Being safe from racial and religious abuse, and the freedom to pray in houses of worship, is a key guarantor of any democracy.
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We also need to talk about the significant toll that vilification takes on its victims.
When racial rhetoric and contempt, like the one espoused by white supremacy, is allowed a free reign, this slow-acting poison robs the intended targets of their dignity and sense of security. It causes a real trauma and suffering that is long lasting, is enormously damaging and often results in thuggish conduct. Worse, it inspires and emboldens the Tarrants of this world.
In the end, it comes down to what kind of society we want to live in.
Do we want to live in a society where vulnerable groups are protected by the government, where everyone is accorded respect and equality, and can go about their daily lives without harassment or deadly assaults?
Do we want to live in an Australia where the weak can take comfort in knowing that when there is the prospect that they will be explicitly stigmatised, marginalised and denigrated because of their skin colour, sexual orientation, religious, national or ethnic orientation, the Minister for Immigration will have their back?
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It’s time to think about the rights of the innocent, not the perpetrators.
A civilised society such as ours has a moral obligation to declare that intimidating, delegitimising and insulting anyone because of who they are is un-Australian.
Blocking Icke, McInnes and Robinson was about protecting ourselves from those who promote xenophobia and prejudice, and who wish to blow on the embers of discord.
No one stomped on these demagogues’ right to spew their venom. They can still do so, but not here.
Now, more than ever, the Australian government must thunderously reaffirm the conviction that Australia will continue to be a safe haven for us all, and that anyone who appeals to base prejudices is not welcome here. And may it always be so.
Dvir Abramovich is chairman of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation Commission