Measures to regulate social media are overdue

Free speech must be preserved but we must define its limits.

Paul Monk suggests that 21st-century democracies can only withstand the competing forces of “bigoted ideological movements”, of which white supremacism is just one of many, if a rational disconnection exists between these forces and those individuals to whom they are baying for attention (“Shared hatred of fanatics”, 18/3).

He even goes as far as to claim that the actions of the Christchurch gunman were “not the consequence of skin colour but of ideological fixation and psychopathology”.

To exclude this obvious connection between his skin colour and his fixation with white supremacism is to deny how identity plays a pivotal role in the placing of ourselves within a typified grand narrative. Without first establishing this connection, there can be no solution found.

Vincent Zankin, Rivett, ACT

Given the mass murder in Christchurch, and the live publication of this gruesome event on social media, it is high time for an investigation by government into this particular medium. When hate speech, beheadings, and murders can be directly and easily uploaded, it is time to question whether this is what society wants and what problems that creates. Free speech and other forms of expression are of utmost importance in a democratic society, but there is still a need to define some limits. Social media has many benefits, but it is also clearly not without problems. And those may well go beyond the mere uploading of what may be considered unacceptable footage, images and words.

Michael Schilling, Millswood, SA

If any government gives its citizens or residents legal access to high-powered assault weapons designed for war, then that government is also sadly culpable to some degree in any tragic massacres that occur, because sooner or later those weapons will fall into the hands of unsavoury extremist characters and governments surely are aware of this possibility.

Michelle Kerr, Asquith, NSW

One of the incomprehensible elements of the Christchurch shootings is that it happened in a place so peaceful and safe. While I may have some rose-coloured spectacles focused on my home, which is not always perfect, I believe the global outpouring of shock arises from the dissonance between the crime and the world image of New Zealand as a tolerant and functional multicultural society.

The irony that this image was taken away by someone who deliberately targeted us does not seem to be recognised by Australian politicians who seem comfortable wading into a debate that isn’t theirs. Projecting your own dysfunctional race politics of hate is a presumption of a right to speak that is not yours to take.

All Australians should be hanging their heads in shame because it is New Zealanders who will have to pay the price for our innocence stolen.

David Brown, Armadale, Vic

The horrific massacre in Christchurch has led to calls for wider bans on hate speech, but well-meaning advocates should be careful what they wish for.

If hate speech is defined as in section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, then saying anything derogatory against a set of beliefs could be included — even if the statement is true. Reporting jihadist attacks on churches or white supremacist attacks on mosques could be outlawed on the ground that such reports might incite hatred against Muslims or Christians. Documentaries about flaws in any religions could lead to litigation.

In 2002, the Islamic Council of Victoria took legal action against two Christian pastors whose church seminar discussed Koran verses that allegedly inspired the jihadists who murdered 3000 in New York’s World Trade Centre in 2001. Five years later, the case was settled out of court. Hate-speech laws can create more problems than they solve.

Roslyn Phillips, Tea Tree Gully, SA

I agree with Greg Sheridan that the centre of politics should reassert itself and rise to reject extreme views and the violence that emanates from them — with the slaughter in Christchurch being the latest example of hate and bigotry.

The support over the past few days show that most Australians and New Zealanders reject the hateful actions of the extreme Right whose views seek to divide rather than unite. We live in a world that contains a diversity of culture and faith. We can’t let extremists dictate our direction.

Richard Tutin, Toowong, Qld