Liberty's Blog

Frist Files the "Online Freedom of Speech Act"

Chairman of the House Bill Frist filed the Online Freedom Speech Act. Which if it becomes law should counter any efforts to restrict bloggers during campaign cycles by the FEC.

Yesterday, I filed the Online Freedom of Speech Act as an amendment to the lobbying reform bill.This morning, the House Administration Committee will mark up identical legislation. We expect the House to act as early as next week to pass this vital protection of free speech.

He continues to explain why its so important.

Thomas Jefferson once quipped that, “Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.” But despite his low opinion of the press, he also observed that, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

From the earliest days of our republic, freedom of speech and freedom of the press – be they anonymous pamphlets, celebrated essays, or local newspapers – were understood to be fundamental to the practice and defense of liberty.

Without the ability to convey ideas, debate, dispute, and persuade, we may never have fought for and achieved our independence.

Ordinary citizens – farmers, ministers, local shop owners – published and circulated their views, often anonymously, to challenge the conventional order, and call their fellow citizens to action.

Indeed, as Boston University journalism professor Chris Daly points out, “What we think of as reporting – the pursuit, on a full time basis of verifiable facts and verbatim quotations – was not a significant part of journalism in the time of Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine… In historical terms, today’s bloggers are much closer in spirit to the Revolutionary-era pamphleteers.”

And, today, it’s bloggers whom we now have to protect.

I think he gets it.

posted by Liberty @ 7:21 PM