• M`I,5`Persecutio n - purpose in publ icizing i t; cen sorship in uk .* newsgro ups

    From mfvmefm@mfvmefm@lycos.com to alt.bbs.allsysop,alt.bbs.doors,alt.bbs.internet,alt.bbs.lists,alt.beer on Tue Jan 1 15:05:51 2008
    From Newsgroup: alt.bbs.doors

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    -= purpose. in publicizing it; censorship in uk.* newsgroups -= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    The postings to uk.misc newsgroup generated a. very defensive reaction from Usenet readers in the UK. So. much so, that they tried strenuously to
    suppress what was. being said, both by breaking the rules of netiquette in their responses on the forum, and directly by. action to revoke the account from which. the postings were issued.

    Yet the postings were within the normal boundaries. of behaviour for
    uk.misc, and. other less partisan spectators did not see justice in the censorship which was effected,. as the following excerpt shows;

    :Karen Lofstrom. (lofstrom@lava.net) wrote
    It does seem that the frequency and the size of. his posts are
    approaching net abuse. However, IMHO,. they aren't quite there yet. If
    his postmaster were to act in this instance, it. would raise troubling :>censorship. issues.

    The. inescapable conclusion of the censorship effected on the uk.*
    newsgroups is that the British are intent on their. wrongdoing remaining concealed, and therefore seek to subvert. and suppress freedom of speech,
    not. only in their own country where the media shows xenophobic bias and
    bile against all perceived enemies within and without, but. also in other countries which have their own statutes to. guarantee the basic human right
    of free. speech.

    It. is absolutely necessary to bring their hate campaign out into the open where it can. be placed under scrutiny and the harassers seen for what they are. That is the only way of making it impossible for. the security services
    to carry it out. There. is a wider dimension, though. Xenophobia as demonstrated by British people and institutions over. the last few years belongs to the same stable as racial hatred. In one. case, two youths on a
    Tube train made that racism explicit by. referring to their victim as a
    "soft toy,. not up to British Standards". Doubtless others victimize partly
    on the basis of race (isn’t it odd that they chose to torment. someone who
    is not ethnically English?). while expressing their abuse in terms of
    another genetic attribute, namely mental illness. All xenophobia. on a
    genetic basis is. wrong, but while racial insults are illegal, abusing the mentally ill. is neither against the law nor subject to similar condemnation when it. is exposed.

    4884

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