UKC

Interesting in the light of the conversation on the Christchurch attack thread:

"Britain’s counter-terrorism chief has said far-right terrorists are being radicalised by mainstream newspaper coverage, while also criticising the hypocrisy of outlets such as Mail Online, which uploaded the “manifesto” of the gunman in the Christchurch terror attack."

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/20/newspapers-help-radicalise-...

Full text of the open letter this is based on here:

https://www.counterterrorism.police.uk/acso-neil-basu-issues-open-letter-ab...

This is not new.  Hurrah for the Blackshirts!

https://nationalvanguard.org/2017/11/hurrah-for-the-blackshirts/

He might be right, but is state control of the media the answer - which appears to be the solution to the problem that he is hinting at?

This report is pretty much what I've been arguing with the UKC freedom of speech ideologues. It is not about state control, it is a tweak on what the UK has always done... mass media of all forms already have various forms of regulation but nearly all need to be a bit more responsible. As for the mainstream press and their online platforms this could involve anything from improved self regulation to an independent system under an ombudsman.

I sadly expect my opponents on this subject to throw out more US style ideology, plenty of  red herrings and even in some cases accuse AC Basu of being well trained by the terrorists. The terrorists want to destroy the broad liberalism of the west. Absolute freedom of speech has never been their target as it assists them in spreading their hate.

Plus in direct contradiction to the idea of lone nutters UK muslim hate crime rates soar.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/22/anti-muslim-hate-crimes-soa...

That's grim, it doesn't only soar after an attack by Islamist terrorists, it soars after an attack on Muslims too.