Op de ‘have your say’ sectie van de BBC de vraag of Pakistan het recht heeft Youtube te blokkeren, vermeend ten gevolge van de film van Wilders. De volgende hoopvolle reacties staan er te lezen:

YES, Posting any offensive material against any religion is a crime in my point of view.

Salman, United Kingdom

As the internet is a prime example of 1960s naivety, of course governments should have the right to censor websites. It’s about time someone did.

the_historian, Stirling

I have no problem with freedom of expression on religous, social or political issues, but there are lines that should never be crossed and governments should stop people crossing them by force if they have to.

laughing devil, London, United Kingdom

“The internet needs tightening up. Blasphemy and lies are out, honesty and integrity are in. Even ban the internet our lives were better off without it anyway. Why do you need it?

Ken, Sheffield

No harm in blocking website which hurts majority of any country.

Ali

Yes. Govts should always have the power to block sites that violate the nation’s laws or threaten national security. However, substitute “politically correct” for “un-Islamic” and the debate enters a different realm. The bigger concern is govt’s punishment of unacceptable speech. Muslims are denounced for their hypersensitivity but it is EU nations that not only block holocaust denial sites but also jail the owners. Are western democracies really the free speech champions they claim to be?

Paul, Washington DC & Essex

Yes, evil nasty criminal offensive stuff should be banned. Since the 60’s moral lines have been broadened so far the west has become to much a tolerant society of such that was once deemed dishonorable and indecent. Freedom of political speech is not offensive. Pornography and islamic hate poetry is. Bring back Mary Whitehouse is all I can say. For those of you too young, Mary Whitehouse was a moral compass for the media and she was right we were all wrong… D.Atkin Ex-pat

Diana Atkin, Canada

I beleive a lot of problems associated with content on the web is the apparent ease of anonimity especially assoicated with sites like Youtube. It’s this issue that governments should address and perhaps even legislate for. It’s not right that a person can post offensive material, like a pupil harrassing a teacher or ‘happy slapping’ in the street and not incur any responsibility for doing so. The web is a powerful platform and measures should be in place to ensure people use it responsibly.

Glyn Costello, Northants

What they do in other country’s is thier business and we should not interfere. Now we are a democracy, anyone can come in take out of the pot and do what they like, apart from those who were born and bred here of course.

Colin Whinger speaking his mind, Plymouth, United Kingdom

It is the government’s decision to block the websites. It is aimed at prevailing peace upon the country. If not censored, elements across the seas can easily create unwanted trouble inside any country taking advantage of the weakness in people’s faith in their religion. Pak has just followed the path of China to contain people’s emotion on sensitive issues. Governments have every right to block not only websites but also confiscate print material if it were provocative. It is a policing act.

CS Narayanan, Tirunelveli, India.

…and the list goes on an on….

Daar wordt je niet vrolijk van!