The War on Free Speech Across the West By James Reed

 Michael Snyder, Christian conservative, has given a rundown of some of the alarming developments in the US along the lines of hate speech, used to control what was once free speech. This is interesting given the once robust traditions of free speech in the country, with the First Amendment of the US Constitution offering a guarantee of freedom of speech. But the elites work their way around this and are at work to repeal the First Amendment and the Second, the right to bear arms. Although there is no legislative "hate speech," at the federal level, that is a technicality, and laws are implemented at the state level, as bad as what we have in Australia.

For example, in Washington, a new law would allow private individuals to collect up to $2,000 every time they report someone to the"hate crimes and bias incidents hotline": https://www.foxnews.com/media/washington-poised-enact-hate-crime-hotline-residents-report-bias-incidents

"The attorney general's office may provide compensation to persons targeted or affected by hate crimes and bias incidents by authorizing expenditures from the Washington hate crime and bias incident account, established in section 3 of this act, up to a maximum of $2,000 per person targeted or affected by a specific hate crime or bias incident, subject to the availability of funds in the account and the requirements of this act," the original House bill read. The latest Senate bill did not include references to compensation for "affected" persons."

It is easy to see that the reward of $2,000 per complaint will lead to the creation of a cottage industry of professional complainers who will eagerly pull in the dollars for all matters of nonsense.As this is happening in the land of the free, it is something to watch out for in Australia.

https://michaeltsnyder.substack.com/p/there-is-a-war-on-free-speech-and

"The freedom to say whatever we want is one of the most fundamental rights in a free society. If we are not free to speak up, it is just a matter of time before all of our other rights are taken away as well. So it should deeply alarm all of us that free speech is under attack like never before. Much of the population has become convinced that "hate speech" is a special class of speech that does not deserve protection. Of course, in practice "hate speech" ends up being whatever forms of expression that the leftist elite hate. That is why "hate speech" laws are always written so vaguely. That way they can be used to go after whoever the leftist elite feel like going after at the time.

It is not always easy to have a society where people are allowed to say whatever they want. People say things all the time that deeply, deeply offend me. And there are some that have said things about me that are tremendously hateful and untrue.

But if we are going to have a free society, people have got to be free to say whatever they want. So we should never support freedom of speech being taken away from anyone, because once we start going down that slippery slope it is just a matter of time before they come after our freedom to say what we want.

That is why what is happening in the state of Washington is so alarming. A new law would allow private individuals to collect up to $2,000 every time they report someone to the new "hate crimes and bias incidents hotline"…

Senate Bill 5427, after it is signed into law, would allow private individuals (note: this is not limited to American citizens) to report "bias incidents*" (see definition below) to the State Attorney General's Office, with the possibility of receiving up to $2,000 of taxpayers money for this noncriminal incident. The bill was very clear: this is a non-crime which they will then forward to local law enforcement to investigate. What's to investigate? No crime, no investigation.

The Progressives & Marxists who sponsored this bill say it is intended to help "victims of hate crimes" before a crime even happens. Say what? In reality, SB 5427 would create a "tattletale hotline," undermine legitimate criminal investigations, and freeze, not just chill, speech & the press in Washington State. People will stop talking to others and writing to others except very close friends & relatives, for fear a greedy "Karen" will report them to Washington's version of the Gestapo.

This is crazy.

Do we live in East Germany now?

It has been pointed out that those that use social media could make a fortune reporting their fellow citizens to the new "tattletale hotline"…

"Spend five minutes on Twitter on any given day and I assure someone would say something offensive under this law that we could call a 'hate crime' and collect $2,000 from the attorney general," Conservative Ladies of Washington Founder and President Julie Barrett told the Senate Ways and Means Committee at a Feb. 20 public hearing. "It potentially target[s] people for actions they don't like, but are not actually hate crimes. In collaboration with bills like HB 1333, this would create sort of a 'tattletale hotline' to report people one doesn't agree with or doesn't like."

Of course we have seen similar efforts in other states.

In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul intends to massively expand the hate crime laws in her state…

Governor Kathy Hochul today highlighted her groundbreaking State of the State proposal to expand the list of charges eligible to be prosecuted as hate crimes and announced grant funding to strengthen safety and security measures at nonprofit, community-based organizations at risk of hate crimes or attacks because of their ideology, beliefs, or mission.

"The rising tide of hate is abhorrent and unacceptable – and I'm committed to doing everything in my power to keep New Yorkers safe," Governor Hochul said. "Since the despicable Hamas attacks of October 7, there has been a disturbing rise in hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers. In recent years we've seen hate-fueled violence targeting Black residents of Buffalo and disturbing harassment of AAPI and LGBTQ+ individuals on the streets of New York City. We will never rest until all New Yorkers feel safe, regardless of who they are, who they love, or how they worship."

And in Michigan, last year a bill was introduced that would have made it a felony if someone felt "terrorized, frightened, or threatened" by your words…

Last month, the Michigan House passed Bill 4474—legislation that would expand the state's existing Ethnic Intimidation Act beyond current protections for religion, ethnicity and race, to categories including sexual orientation and gender identity or expression. HB 4474 would make it a felony hate crime offense to cause someone to "feel terrorized, frightened, or threatened" with words—deliberately misgendering someone, for example—subject to a potential penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

The Left has been pushing its "words are violence" premise for some time. But Michigan's willingness to go the extra mile and criminalize gender-related speech has summoned a ghoul from some dystopian fever dream.

I certainly do not like hate speech.

Every day, people say things that are horribly offensive to me.

But I support their right to say those things, because I don't want my freedom of speech to be taken away.

And the leftist elite will never be satisfied until they take things as far as they possibly can.

For example, a new law in Canada allows courts to put people in prison for the rest of their lives for "hate crime offenses"…

It also amends the Criminal Code to create a new standalone hate crime offence that would allow penalties up to life imprisonment to deter hateful conduct, as well as raise the maximum punishments for hate propaganda offences from five years to life imprisonment for advocating genocide.

"I'm the father of two youngsters and, like parents and grandparents around Canada, I'm terrified by the dangers that lurk on the internet for our children," said Justice Minister Arif Virani Monday, as the Liberals unveiled the bill.

"I'm also a Muslim. The hatred that festers online is radicalizing people and that radicalization has real world impacts for my community, and for so many other communities," added Virani.

So what constitutes a "hate crime" in Canada?

Well, over the years the rules have been written so vaguely that they could be used to go after just about anything.

As a result, many Canadians are now deeply afraid to say anything that is even remotely "offensive".

Now this new law which is being pushed by Justin Trudeau will make things even worse. If you can believe it, this new law would actually allow authorities to take certain kinds of actions even before a hate crime has been committed…

Trudeau's bill is called Bill C-63, and it's a "hate crime bill" that primarily affects "social media" and essentially "criminalizes a human emotion."

"If you have quote 'fear of hate' … you can get a judge to issue a kind of restraining order against your enemy before he does anything, before he says anything, and that restraining order can include house arrest, giving up any lawful firearms, limiting who he can talk to directly or indirectly, limiting the places he can go, and requiring him to to take urine and blood tests – just because you are quote 'afraid' he might in the future say some hate speech," he explains, adding that the so-called perpetrator "doesn't have to have done anything in the past" to be required to go through the process, making it "a pre-crime bill."

What in the world has happened to Canada?

Once upon a time, it was such a nice place to visit.

The laws that seek to restrict how we express ourselves are never enforced uniformly.

Instead, we have seen example after example where conservatives are specifically targeted.

Here in the United States, the left believes in being very soft on violent criminals, but they will go after pro-life activists with all the fury they can muster.

Right now, a 59-year-old grandmother is probably going to spend the rest of her life in prison because she was attempting to convince women not to go into an abortion clinic…

In prison, every move an inmate makes is controlled. Ms. Idoni, 59, is getting used to that. She must, because she is facing more than 41 years in prison—the rest of her natural life.

Her sentence is expected to be the longest in the United States for someone charged with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a 1994 law that prohibits interfering with anyone obtaining or providing "reproductive health services." It was seldom used until the Supreme Court's decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization reversed Roe v. Wade in June 2022, which returned abortion regulation to the states.

Her crime: sitting near or in front of the doors of abortion clinics to give sidewalk counselors a few moments to talk to women before their abortion appointments and potentially change their minds. Nine women out of 10 give them the middle finger and keep walking, Ms. Idoni said. But some women do change their minds, and sidewalk counselors say the life of every baby saved is worth the risk.

More than 60 million babies have been killed in the United States since 1973, but those responsible for the killing are not being held accountable.

Instead, those that are trying to do something about the relentless slaughter are being viciously targeted by authorities.

We really do live in an upside down society.

Good is being called evil, and evil is being called good.

And if you try to speak out about what is happening, you could find yourself in an enormous amount of trouble.

They intend to completely crush all dissent, and they will never stop until they have achieved their goal."