Barely two months into 2017, we might just have the issue of the year pinned down: free speech. The re-emergence of this debate to the table has come as a breath of fresh air to classical liberals and those concerned with censorship; but seems to have angered those who have moved on to what they deem to be more crucial concerns.
The concept has been fading into obscurity for a while, as issues such as social justice have taken its place, with some arguing that the two work contrary to each other. But the legitimization of attacks on speech has created a dichotomy rife with emotion, retaliation and violence — and perhaps most significant of all, irony.
The idea of punching Nazis is routinely fetishized in memes that don’t seem to be going away, and glorified by Hollywood and other influential forces. The hysteria brought about by the election of Donald Trump as president of the USA was very much expected — but the toll the recent trend is taking on the concepts of speech and justice might not have been.
The inauguration of the new president has brought about the arrests of a number of journalists covering the event, including a documentary producer, photojournalist, live-streamer and freelance reporter all charged with the most serious level of offense under Washington DC’s rioting laws.
At the same time, the FBI have been involved in the investigation of rioters who threw firebombs and brutally attacked attendees of a speaking event at the University of California at Berkeley — an event which included right-wing speaker Milo Yiannopoulos.
On our own shores, controversial blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia is claiming that Economy Minister Chris Cardona and EU presidency policy coordinator Joseph Gerada visited a German brothel while on official business this month. In an unprecedented move, the two filed four warrants which froze €47,460 from the journalist’s bank account.
Similarly to how Milo Yiannopoulos or Richard Spencer’s supporters are multiplying with every riot and every attempt at taking making sure they don’t deliver their speeches — support for our own controversial figures rises with every act of disproportionate retaliation. What many deem to be an act of cavalier intimidation is precisely what caused Mrs Caruana Galizia to generate €69,500 in donations so far.
Waging war on the island’s “one-woman WikiLeaks” is no small feat, especially with the existence of more powerful entities on the playing field. In fact, the European Federation of Journalists has reported the case to the Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalism, the largest organisation in Europe for the safeguarding of the rights of journalists.
In response, the Democratic Party has called for the correction of "draconian’ libel laws — followed by a tweet from opposition leader Simon Busuttil pledging to “remove all gags on free expression” once a Nationalist government is in power.
Although many would argue that all freedoms carry consequences and that a lack of proof to claims made by a popular blogger should not be taken lightly, vicious counter-attacks are proving to be immensely counterproductive. It would take a lot more to silence or destroy controversial figures and provocateurs — and perhaps rightly so.
