Having our say

The best response to confronting speech is more speech, not less, according to philosopher John Stuart Mill. Seldom has that advice been more pertinent.

The Government’s proposal to strengthen hate-speech laws has quickly degenerated into cacophonic confusion, so it’s important New Zealanders clarify exactly what we seek to be protected from. The answer used to be violence, not speech itself. Now the proposal is to reduce the prosecution threshold from violence to