Censorship under the Terrorism Bill
socialist | 26.10.2005 06:29 | Terror War
Criticism and opposition to the Terrorism Bill has concentrated on the proposal to detain suspects for 90 days. The Bill also includes powerful powers of censorship.
Criticism and opposition to the Terrorism Bill has concentrated on the proposal to detain suspects for 90 days. The Bill also includes powerful powers of censorship.
Under section 3 of the Bill, a police constable! can issue a notice requiring a person to remove an item which he/she deems to be "unlawfully terrorism related". You then have two days to remove the item or face a penulty of up to 7 years. 7 years for failing to remove an item that offends a police constable!.
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/columnist/story/0,9321,1590960,00.html
"under the terms of the bill, anyone who voices support for armed resistance to any state or occupation, however repressive or illegitimate, will be committing a criminal offence carrying a seven-year prison sentence - so long as members of the public might reasonably regard it as direct or indirect encouragement. Terrorism is not defined in the bill as, say, indiscriminate attacks on civilians, let alone an assault on civilian targets by states - but as any politically motivated violence against people, property or electronic systems anywhere in the world. This is not only an assault on freedom of speech and debate about the most contentious subject in global politics. It also makes a criminal offence out of a belief shared by almost every society, religion or philosophy throughout history: namely, that people have the right to take up arms against tyranny and foreign occupation. Clarke made clear on Tuesday that this was exactly his intention. He could not, he said, think of any situation in the world where "violence would be justified to bring about change".
Hizb-ut-Tahrir is a Muslim organisation that campaigns for a Caliphate state. Since the government has stated that they wish to proscribe Hizb-ut-Tahrir it is reasonable to assume that they would also want to ban their website.
Bliar & Co are clearly attempting to silence legitimate opposition to their Fascist policies.
socialist
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