Declan McCullagh has a good piece on an attempt by the Council of Europe to limit free speech on the Internet. Under the regulations, any criticism of a political figure would force an author or blogger to run a reply from that official. In essence, it would mean that a website like Libertarian Samizdata to essentially run EU propaganda any time they criticize the EU.
Such efforts have already been struck down by the Supreme Court of the US as having a chilling effect on freedom of speech. It is unsure if the Coucil of Europe’s regulation might also apply to American bloggers, however there are precedents that such things could happen.
This regulation is not about fairness, it is about silencing anyone who would criticize the European elites. It is a regulation that must be struck down at once. One would think that a group of nations that have experienced the worst of authoritarianism would know better than to put such power in the hands of the few.
