Update: Since this was written, at least some of the hate groups involved have been barred from using Paypal.
An article on the campaign to stop hate groups from using PayPal and the questions of freedom of speech it raised.
A while ago, a friend posted a petition on FB, calling on PayPal to cease and desist enabling the funding of known hate groups. Interestingly it prompted a swell of responses, claiming that it was all free speech, and that PayPal should not monitor its users or infringe on their right to communicate.
This is a load of complete sh!t, and I'll tell you why.
Firstly the campaign was about groups who use PayPal as a vital part of their organisation to promote and organise gay hate crimes.
This is an extract from their email;
"One of the groups using PayPal, Abiding Truth Ministries, frequently sends their leader Scott Lively on trips to build a standing army of extremists dedicated to discriminating against LGBT people. After one of these trips, Lively bragged that he delivered a “nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda." Just days later, his Ugandan hosts introduced the horrifying “Kill the Gays” bill.
PayPal already has a policy that prohibits use of its service “for activities that [...] promote hate, violence, racial intolerance” - but groups like Abiding Truth Ministries - and 10 others we've found - are falling through the cracks."
So, we're not talking about Josh Dycke-Hedd of Northcote High, who maintains a FB page called 'I hate p00fs n that', we're talking about a right-wing Christian hate group that is writing legislation for a foreign government to launch a pogrom of gay murder.
For those not following Uganda, a major international effort has been desperately trying to forestall a bill that would make homosexuality illegal and punishable by either life imprisonment or death. Various forms of the bill have also criminalised knowing anyone who is gay, or being in a photograph with someone who is gay. As part of the culture of hate, a leading Ugandan paper published the names and addresses of 100 homosexuals with an exhortation to "hang them" and people sure did. Most of the survivors are in hiding or have fled the country. The bill is being sponsored by both US born-agains and factions of the Anglican Church. For anyone who thinks this is free speech - YOU ARE WRONG. This is incitement to murder.
Where does freedom of speech begin and end? Proponents of universal free speech claim that any let or hindrance on free speech is a violation of it. Accepting a no-holds-barred interpretation means the Ugandan newspaper was right to publish those names - it was their strong opinion and belief that gays are dirty and evil, and according to the principle of universal free speech, they should be allowed to express that. Such unfettered communication is obviously both a threat to the harmonious functioning of society, and an open door to the rantings of nutcases.
Many will ask, 'Well, if you limit them, what's to say we won't be limited trying to say something decent?'
Well, essentially you have just answered your own question. Free speech used to incite hatred and violence is radically different from free speech used to simply communicate ideas.
When Fred Nile tells us that all gays and lesbians are going to hell, we can counter him and say 'You're an idiot.' His beliefs have been expressed and so have ours. If Fred Nile turned around and said 'Gays and lesbians have no place in our society and we should get rid of them' then it's likely someone, somewhere will take that to heart, believe it and act on it. You can still call him an idiot, and yes, both opinions have been freely expressed. The difference is this time, someone who heard Fred Nile is walking down darkened streets, bat in hand, looking to exact biblical 'justice'.
This is what our one limitation is - your right to free speech ends when you invite harm on another, when what you say can be seen as motivating violence, oppression, persecution or bigotry. Few other limitations can be as clear cut.
Make no mistake, you and I debating the value of Shakespeare over Moliére is free speech, but me loudly screaming 'All French writers are scum, and they should all be hanged!' is not.
The petition to PayPal can be found here;
http://www.allout.org/en/actions/paypal?akid=
A while ago, a friend posted a petition on FB, calling on PayPal to cease and desist enabling the funding of known hate groups. Interestingly it prompted a swell of responses, claiming that it was all free speech, and that PayPal should not monitor its users or infringe on their right to communicate.
This is a load of complete sh!t, and I'll tell you why.
Firstly the campaign was about groups who use PayPal as a vital part of their organisation to promote and organise gay hate crimes.
This is an extract from their email;
"One of the groups using PayPal, Abiding Truth Ministries, frequently sends their leader Scott Lively on trips to build a standing army of extremists dedicated to discriminating against LGBT people. After one of these trips, Lively bragged that he delivered a “nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda." Just days later, his Ugandan hosts introduced the horrifying “Kill the Gays” bill.
PayPal already has a policy that prohibits use of its service “for activities that [...] promote hate, violence, racial intolerance” - but groups like Abiding Truth Ministries - and 10 others we've found - are falling through the cracks."
So, we're not talking about Josh Dycke-Hedd of Northcote High, who maintains a FB page called 'I hate p00fs n that', we're talking about a right-wing Christian hate group that is writing legislation for a foreign government to launch a pogrom of gay murder.
For those not following Uganda, a major international effort has been desperately trying to forestall a bill that would make homosexuality illegal and punishable by either life imprisonment or death. Various forms of the bill have also criminalised knowing anyone who is gay, or being in a photograph with someone who is gay. As part of the culture of hate, a leading Ugandan paper published the names and addresses of 100 homosexuals with an exhortation to "hang them" and people sure did. Most of the survivors are in hiding or have fled the country. The bill is being sponsored by both US born-agains and factions of the Anglican Church. For anyone who thinks this is free speech - YOU ARE WRONG. This is incitement to murder.
Where does freedom of speech begin and end? Proponents of universal free speech claim that any let or hindrance on free speech is a violation of it. Accepting a no-holds-barred interpretation means the Ugandan newspaper was right to publish those names - it was their strong opinion and belief that gays are dirty and evil, and according to the principle of universal free speech, they should be allowed to express that. Such unfettered communication is obviously both a threat to the harmonious functioning of society, and an open door to the rantings of nutcases.
Many will ask, 'Well, if you limit them, what's to say we won't be limited trying to say something decent?'
Well, essentially you have just answered your own question. Free speech used to incite hatred and violence is radically different from free speech used to simply communicate ideas.
When Fred Nile tells us that all gays and lesbians are going to hell, we can counter him and say 'You're an idiot.' His beliefs have been expressed and so have ours. If Fred Nile turned around and said 'Gays and lesbians have no place in our society and we should get rid of them' then it's likely someone, somewhere will take that to heart, believe it and act on it. You can still call him an idiot, and yes, both opinions have been freely expressed. The difference is this time, someone who heard Fred Nile is walking down darkened streets, bat in hand, looking to exact biblical 'justice'.
This is what our one limitation is - your right to free speech ends when you invite harm on another, when what you say can be seen as motivating violence, oppression, persecution or bigotry. Few other limitations can be as clear cut.
Make no mistake, you and I debating the value of Shakespeare over Moliére is free speech, but me loudly screaming 'All French writers are scum, and they should all be hanged!' is not.
The petition to PayPal can be found here;
http://www.allout.org/en/actions/paypal?akid=
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