El Reg commentards can get worked up about a whole range of topics. That is one of the reasons I so enjoy reading it.
Back in May 2009, El Reg posted an article about the then Home Secretary’s decision to place the right wing US Radio commentator, Michael Savage, on a persona non grata list alongside such luminaries as “a couple of unpleasant Russian skinheads, ex-Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Stephen ‘Don’ Black, neo-Nazi Erich Gliebe, Hamas MP Yunis Al-Astal and Jewish extremist Mike Guzovsky.”. Savage then reportedly retaliated by threatening to sue, citing “international law” by which he claimed he had the right to say whatever he liked, whenever, and wherever, he saw fit.
Amongst all the usual El Reg forum commentary was one interesting interjection by a US reader with the forum name “drag”, titled “No British Freedom of Speech, obviously”. In that post, drag rather prophetically concluded:
He is a right wing political commentator who tends to get excited about his viewpoints. He isn’t even extreme. Which is why your government would like to see him and other people like him minimized. They don’t want to allow viewpoints into your country that run contrary to the status quo that they want to establish.
At least for now you people still have the internet and the ability to listen to other country’s radio shows…
I wonder how long before that is going to be taken away from you?
Any Internet filtering laws yet?
To which the answer has to be “yes”. With more threatened.