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Myths of Radicalisation
- DanBC 13y agoAmericans have strong freedom of speech laws, and this flows through into American culture. Banning someone from speaking, no matter how hateful they are, is horrific to many Americans. The UK doesn't have similarly strong laws. Often, we're pretty happy. We're glad we don't get groups like Westbro Baptist Church preaching hate at funerals. Sometimes we go too far. Some politicians for Irish Republican groups were not allowed to have their voices broadcast. This lead to the weird situation where video of them speaking would be dubbed by actors. It's probably horrific to most Americans that some of us are considering prohibiting these people from appearing on TV, radio, the Internet, etc. I'd like to re-assure you that although we're generally happy with our laws some of us recognise that banning these people doesn't really help with the problem of radicalisation. Indeed, having a wingnut being allowed to speak freely means most people see the hate for what it is and allows law enforcement to do some easy monitoring. Having said that, I'd like to warn people against the concept of "the market of ideas" - many Americans believe weird and stupid things that are directly harmful to them or their families, so freedom of expression doesn't seem to protect against that. (I'm not suggesting that Americans are the only nation to believe weird and stupid things; it happens world wide.)