The last few weeks have seen the start of the next stage in the most important battle of our lifetimes. The battle for the free speech of the internet. Today a well-known British journalist faced jail as the attorney general considered whether to prosecute him, after he named a British footballer on Twitter, who has allegedly had an affair. The footballer had taken out a super injunction preventing his name being published in the press.
Already governments worldwide have been clamping down on free speech. Most notably China, where the great firewall constantly watches and monitors what people can see. Anything which goes against the government line is mercilessly blocked. This article will certainly not make it through. We have also seen in Egypt how the internet was switched off when its people went against the government.
Today saw people and journalists unite against the tyrannical super injunctions which seek to silence us. The day we start locking people up for telling the truth will be the end of our democracy. Thousands of people on Twitter named or re-tweeted the footballer who took out a super injunction to prevent his name being reported in the press.
Today his efforts failed. The Sunday Herald named the footballer and its front page printed his picture with a black bar across his eyes with the words censored.
Twitter users relentlessly used their accounts to put out as much information on the footballer as they could.The Herald hit out at what it called, ‘restrictive privacy laws’. They said this was an ‘issue of freedom of information’ and they expected no legal ramifications. Have these actions left the British judicial system in crisis?
The accused footballer is already seeking to sue reality TV star Imogen Thomas (the women he is accused of having the affair with), accusing her of blackmail. The footballer is also trying to sue the Sun newspaper. How many more can he sue though?
Free speech is the life blood of democracy. Without a free press there is no democracy. It was no surprise to me that the internet was nominated for the Nobel peace prize this year. I hope it wins the award in the future.
The internet allows the world to communicate. Wars happen when we’re afraid of people and things we don’t understand. The internet prevents that.
It is the greatest tool of freedom we have and we must preserve it.