Check It Out: Are tomorrow’s heroes being censored today?

By Joan Janzen

A dad handed his son a book and said, “It’s called reading. It’s how people install new software into their brains.” However what we read and hear is in danger of being censored.

“He who stifles free discussion, secretly doubts whether what he professes to believe is really true.” It’s a quote by American abolitionist and attorney, Wendell Phillips.

Abolitionist William Wilberforce also said, “Let the consequences be what they would: I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition.” If Wilberforce had lived today, he would very likely have been censored.

Regarding censorship today, columnist Lorne Gunter said that if a person feels they’re hated as a result of something said or written, they can go to the safety board and demand its removal. Gunter was a recent guest on the Andrew Lawton Show, discussing Bill C-11.

“Under Bill C-11 the government hands the power to take things down to the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission) which is full of government appointees or even worse to a board of internet safety which is all government appointees. If you think this is dangerous misinformation - you have the power to start deciding what can and cannot be posted on the internet, and that really frightens me,” Gunter said.

In 2021, he wrote an article entitled “Big changes may be coming to Canada’s vetting of refugees”. He reported information he had obtained from a confidential internal document. “The government didn’t like that. The director of Communications of the Immigration and Refugee Board went to Facebook and said we want to take this down because it contains dangerous misinformation. They were embarrassed that they were found out.” Dangerous misinformation is the terminology used in Bill C-11.

Historical hero, Wilberforce passionately campaigned against slavery until his death. He didn’t do it to gain popularity, fame, monetary gain or political promotion. He gained many enemies, especially those who profited from slavery and didn’t like what he was saying.

Today we hear reports of individuals being expelled from school, losing their employment, losing their medical licence or taken to court because they’re a parent who loves their child. Like Wilberforce, they too are not speaking up in order to gain popularity, fame, monetary gain or a promotion.

Andrew Lawton advised Canadians to, “Look at the policies that are coming down the pipeline which would threaten social media companies with very steep fines if they don’t take down content that’s identified as being wrong.”

Wilberforce had been labeled by rulers of the day as “being wrong” yet he said, “Let it not be said that I was silent when they needed me.” Today, vulnerable and innocent children and youth are just one example of individuals who need our help, not our silence.

Are tomorrow’s heroes being censored, persecuted and hated today? That’s a good question.