Censorship?

A Palestinian rally planned for the weekend inside the OISE at U of T was cancelled by the administration. In particular, it seems that the "basis of unity" that all participants were expected to sign on to was "exclusionary" and therefore not appropriate to a University campus.

Surprisingly, I agree.

I have always argued that people have a right to free speech that cannot be violated under anything but the most dire of circumstances. However, there is a hidden obligation that comes along with the right to free speech. In order to be allowed to say whatever you want, you must not infringe upon the rights of others to do the same.

That said, if someone wants to use private space (eg. a rented banquet hall) and wishes to exclude dissenting voices from the gathering, that is their right. However, a university is on the borderline between public and private space, and if you use public space to disseminate a message, you have an obligation to allow other people to use that space to promote their message in a nondestructive fashion as well.

I believe that forcing people who wish to attend a public conference to limit their speech rights as a price of admission is wrong. The conference was an infringement on free speech rights, and while it appears that the University is stifling speech, I happen to think that the opposite is true.

(Story from Segacs)