NO-ONE is a more committed defender of free speech than the Hampshire Chronicle, or more aware of how it has been won over the centuries.
But there are limits. The well-known one is not being allowed to shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theatre. And there should be no free speech on lies. Or when an idiot goes around hospitals in Hampshire and takes photos of empty corridors to support a ludicrous belief that Covid-19 is exagerated.
The person was rightly fined by the police for leaving home without a valid reason. She should also be publicly named.
The problem is that now everyone is a publisher, even people of limited intelligence. Being dim but not inflicting your stupidity on others is one thing. Being thick and then, as this women did, pushing a baseless theory about Covid is another. One of the answers is to remove anonymity from the internet. Anyone who publishes anything online should have their name clear to see and their address registered. Anyone can stand on the Buttercross and say what they like. But no-one has the right to spout lies with their identity masked.
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