This is bizarre. An Auckland judge has ruled that news websites cannot publish the names of two accused murderers but tv, radio and print newspapers can.
The judge must believe there are people who could misuse information that have access to the internet but who do not necessarily listen to tv or radio or read newspapers.
People can always get information if they have the time, inclination and energy. And if they know where to look. Some people will google names through idle curiosity, others with malicious intent. People with malicious intentions, those who may threaten family members for instance, are probably motivated enough to put in some effort.
What next? Banning newspapers? How does he propose preventing blogs from publishing the names?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Lindsay, I think the money quote is this:
"He was also "concerned about the viral effect of digital publication"."
Which an implicit acknowledgement of the power of blogs.
Unlike Adolf over at No Minister I'm not at all sanguine about this. In fact I view it as the thin end of the wedge because this government and certainly many bureaucrats loathe the fact that citizens have an unfettered voice at last.
As I posted at Crusader Rabbit, this is the opening shot in an attempt to regulate and censor bloggers.
I'm quite comfortable with the paranoid" charge these days, after seeing almost everything I've been 'paranoid' about come to pass....
Post a Comment