Free Speech Under Attack

- Blurb -

This book explains the sturggle for free speech in English over several centuries and how it was an established right by the time that British law came to New Zealand in 1840. In the 21st century new forces have arisen to try to limit free speech on the grounds that certain statements might offend minorities. In fact, offending people is one of the by-products of free speech and is no argument for restricting it. The current moves to limit free speech on such spurious grounds as "religious hate spech" laws are the work of power elites whose eventual aim is to limit, if not altogether abolish, the right to criticize powerful minotires and indeed authority itself. In recent years there have already been too many encroachments on free speech by the misnamed Human Rights Act 1993 and the Harmful Digital Communication Act 2015 - all part of a step-by-step erosion of this ancient and necessar yright .This book is a useful, informative and powerful exposition of this supremely important issue.