What free speech means

It means people with odious opinions, like David Irving or Nick Griffin, should be allowed to express these opinions without fear of prosecution by the state. It also means the Oxford Union should be allowed to invite them to speak.

But it does not mean that the Oxford Union is obligated to give these people a platform. Unfortunately, Oxford isn't the only institution which has trouble understanding this:

The Oxford Union debating society raised ire among student groups and activists on Thursday after its president announced that he had invited Holocaust denier David Irving to come speak at the university, The Guardian reported Friday.

The society's president, Luke Tryl, told The Guardian he had also invited British National party chairman Nick Griffin and Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukoshenko to speak. He added that the group has not yet formalized its invitation list.

"The Oxford Union is famous for is commitment to free speech and although I do think these people have awful and abhorrent views I do think Oxford students are intelligent enough to challenge and ridicule them," Tryl said.

[...]

"It will be a disgrace if these discredited speakers are allowed a platform at a forum on free speech. They have an embarrassing history of disregard for legal restrictions on it. It will certainly go down as a black mark on the reputation of the Oxford Union," Oxford Jewish Society co-presidents Daniel Bloch and Steven Altmann-Richer said in a joint statement.

According to the report, Irving denied having been formally approached by anyone from the Oxford Union but said he would accept such an invitation if offered.

Much more at Harry's Place.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at October 12, 2007 12:35 PM