OSCE official suggests finding fine line between free speech, countering Russian propaganda

Kyiv Post ^ | March 18, 2015, 9:36 a.m. | Kyiv Post; Oleg Sukhov

[WhiskeyX]

The Ukrainian government needs to find a “fine line” that would allow it to both protect free speech and fight Kremlin propaganda, a top official of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe said in an interview with the Kyiv Post.

There has been a debate in Ukraine on whether pro-Kremlin media, which are inciting Russia’s war against Ukraine and fabricating lies, should be banned. While some argue that they are a threat to national security, others condemn such measures as an attack on free speech.

“The Ukrainian government needs to find a very fine line with the help of the international community on how to tackle these issues,” said Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE’s representative on freedom of the media.

[....]

She said, however, that “propaganda is not free speech...Propaganda is an evil that can create huge problems in society. It needs to be fought with truth.”

[....]

“I come from a region where propaganda played an enormous role,” she said. “It was used as a tool to manipulate people, to inject them with hatred. Propaganda created division, and people lived in fear.”

Mijatovic said that the false story about a boy crucified by Ukrainian troops in the city of Slovyansk, broadcast by Russia’s Channel One in July 2014, reminded her of similar lies on Serbian television under Milosevic.

“When I heard this story about the boy who was crucified, I recalled the story on state-controlled television I heard back in 1992, when I was in Sarajevo (the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina),” she said. “They were saying that babies of certain ethnic origin are baked in an oven. No proof (was presented). Another story was that Serbs were thrown to lions in the zoo in order to feed animals.”

[SampleMan]

Speech is part of war. When at war, enemy propaganda is often banned.

[mrsmel]

The US is clearly at war with the left, they’ve not only monopolise the propaganda, they are no longer making any bones about their desire to silence the opposition. The sodomites and the global warming lunatics are especially open regarding their intention, now that they’ve monopolised mainstream media.

The disgusting Brney frank, in an NPR interview yesterday, made no boned about what they’ve done and their intentions. I was fuming that my tax dollars go to support my avowed enemies.

[Krosan]

Freedom of speech is a sign of a healthy society and negative aspects of it work out in the long term (like picketing soldier funerals is countered by Patriot Guard), but it seems with Ukraine being in war right now they have more pressing concerns.

[UMCRevMom@aol.com]