Holocaust Denial

[Meltingpot]

It's the old "freedom from/freedom to" dichotomy isn't it?

Of course the social body is entitled to protect its citizenry from lies and false claims about the nature and history of the world. But we'd be fools to expect our governments to get things right, so we trust the free play of ideas and speech and all the rest will eventually tease out the truth. Provided the various factions within society are reasonably well balanced, I like to think it's fair enough to trust that truth will out.

When it comes to the Holocaust specifically, the deniers are effectively accusing a very great many people of fraud and dishonesty. I'm comfortable with the idea that the state has a role in protecting people and their posthumous reputations from that kind of attack.

I think such allegations of fraud and dishonesty should be handled through the civil courts, not the criminal ones. Basically, make it too expensive for them to pursue malicious claims such as those unless they've got good evidence to support their case, then the Holocaust revisionists will have to "put up or shut up." Criminalising them just plays into their hands by making them look like martyrs.

I'm not an expert on the Holocaust though I'm convinced it happened.

 

[hipipol]

Its insane

While we are at it, surely its should be criminal to deny that Napoleon was a violent little thugs who was responsible for millions of deaths thru his insane wars? That punishable by 10 years hard labour it is an offense to deny that Italians have a corrupt government? That the French have an inherently racist State?
We are already swamped in legislation the majority of which is not actually applied, if you want to make the law an ass make lots of laws which will either not be enforced or is incapable of enforcement
This is so stupid