Does Australia have freedom of speech? What are vilification laws?
And Here is his apology.
My question is, what is wrong with his comments?
Gene simmons comments and Australian "vilification laws"
by avishai 12 Replies latest jw friends
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Stephanus
I think "racial vilification" is something to do with incitement to racial hatred. There was an attempt some years ago to introduce a Federal law, but I don't think it passed. Victoria (of which Melbourne is the capital) may well have its own RV legislation.
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Max Divergent
Probably refering to the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001 which provides for 6 months in the slammer for encouraging hatred or victimisation or contempt or ridicule of people on the basis of their nationality, religion etc. It's only a short Act, so have a read...
The basic idea is that the racial and religious problems of the old world have no place in Australia and people can leave their ancient rivalries and predjudces, racisism and religious bigotries wherever they came from. It's worked OK for the most part but vilification is starting to be a problem in some areas, hence these Acts popping up around the place to make explicit what's required to allow all to live peacfully in a democracy.
Australia has no Bill of Rights and no codified freedom of speech. Individual rights are recognised by convention (generally presumed). It works OK in practice and people have at least as much freedom in Australia as in the United States and other developed nations - it's just administered differently.
Regards, Max - who is currently procrastinating from studying for a Law exam he has tomorrow morning...
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avishai
or contempt or ridicule of people on the basis of their nationality, religion etc.
So, would this site be liable?
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DanTheMan
"Your dog, however, can walk side by side, your dog is allowed to have its own dog house... you can send your dog to school to learn tricks, sit, beg, do all that stuff - none of the women have that advantage."
Yeah, western women can aspire to be part of the mob of gratuitous T&A decorations that Gene loads up his music videos with. LOL (I'm speaking of the video for his new song Asshole)
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ozziepost
would this site be liable?
No, this site is not under Australian law.
As an aside, it's a burden that the site owner (in this case Simon) bears for the ill-advised comments that could (note 'could')be made on this site.
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avishai
Yeah, western women can aspire to be part of the mob of gratuitous T&A decorations that Gene loads up his music videos with. LOL (I'm speaking of the video for his new song Asshole)
Yes. And Western women have the choice to do that, or wear a burka if they want. Many middle eastern women do not. Saudi Women don't even have the right to drive. I think Gene is one of the smartest men in the music biz.
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avishai
P.s. Thank's, ozzie!!!
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Max Divergent
Mmm... lets have a look...
The site might be potentially liable as the Act has an extraterritorial provision at s8(2)(b). That means Victoria may prosecute for acts committed outside Victoria if the effect of the act is felt in Victoria and they can get a hold of the culprit. So, probably, a complaint is possible if a breach of the Act can be demonstrated - but the Act is for really serious hate stuff (think Nazi), not people blowing off steam amongst peers and like minded people as happens here.
Also, the site is well moderated so the owners probably have protection under s27(4) as they've taken steps to prevent that stuff, and also there are exceptions at s11 to provde for democratic free speech including legitimate discussion. Also, enforcment would be hard as I doubt the UK would extridite Simon becuase Farkel or someone posted some cutting remark on JWD!!!!
So, no... Simon and posters are probably safe but there is potential for problems if they read the plans here
for bombing the Assemb... nah, they might take that the wrong way :-)... so long as it dosn't become a real hate site and noone's hatching plans for really bad stuff, then there shouldn't be any issue at all.Cheers, Max - who's just exercising his mind and is probably wrong about everything above!!!!
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avishai
Interesting that they still have the page up with his comments but not his apology.