OFF: Freeedom of Speech

[M Holmes]

trev writes:

> so when i described the destruction of parliament by rampaging skinhead
> hordes in the fantasy song "skinheads in leningrad", if a rampaging horde
> had actually attacked parliament, mistaking my fantasy for a literal
> exhortation, i would have been banged up???

Hasn't this actually been tried in the US over a rap song?

> if this was a possibility, half the writers in the country would be in the
> nick for threatening maggie thatchers well-being. she was, as you know,
> actually attacked by the ira bombers in brighton.

> how can you prove whether there was intent or not? i dont think you can.

Wasn't intent regarded as a major issue in the Hamza case?

The trouble with intent is that you, a rapper, the BNP or Hamza could
always mount an "I was just singing/mouthing off" defence. The problem
is that with certain speech, that kind of thing can lead to some nutter
actually doing what's recommended.

Another troubling question is whether Hamza or the BNP should be free to
say "let's kill all the infidels/blacks!" if nobody actually acts upon
it. Is the clear risk that someone might do so enough to remove the
right to such speech?

> there might have been real intent at the time of writing when artistic
> passions were  up but which would have not lasted after the work was
> finished and published. this was the case with "skinheads". when iwrote it,
> the exhortation to violence was real to me, but as i generally condone non
> violence whenever possible, in hindsight it was not.

Let's say that the title was instead the less than catchy "Arabs at the
Danish Embassy". Would you release that song tomorrow?

FoFP