Blocking media is the new book burning

During times of great chaos in Ancient Rome, the government of the day resorted to restricting citizens’ liberty. Similarly, in Australia during times of great media frenzies, it seems that the liberties of citizens can also be suspended.

It is as if the Enlightenment never occurred and John Stuart Mill’s arguments for a free press were never made.

Australia’s own Caesar, Scott Morrison, attempted to stop people from seeing the footage of the New Zealand shooting.

Mr. Morrison himself did not pass any laws or act with any executive orders; he just asked telecommunications companies like Telstra to prevent their users from accessing video hosting platforms like LiveLeak and various other media sites.

LiveLeak, for those unfamiliar, is a video sharing site similar to YouTube. Unlike YouTube, LiveLeak aims to provide an archive of raw footage from current events in order to give power to the people who can analyse … Read the rest