2007-09-10 Access To Information And Freedom

Today, I'm not feeling very well when reading the statement from Franco Frattini, the vice president of the European Commission :

"Donner des instructions pour fabriquer une bombe n'a rien à voir avec la liberté d'expression 
et la liberté d'informer les gens, a expliqué M. Frattini. Le bon équilibre, à mon avis, est 
de donner priorité aux droits absolus et au premier de tous, le droit à la vie."

and especially this comment from the AFP article :

Franco Frattini, le commissaire européen à la justice et à la sécurité, a annoncé lundi 
10 septembre son intention de réfléchir aux moyens de limiter la recherche sur Internet de mots jugés "dangereux".

Reading between the lines, the right to education, information and freedom of expression is less important than security and "right to life". What's the hell ? Of course, you cannot be against the "right to life" but it's not by stopping access to information or education that would help. People really willing to hurt other don't need a lot of education. That's often the lack of education or information generating violence… The solution proposed by Mr. Frattini is to limit education. Curiosity is not a crime, it's the beginning of learning. How many chemist vocations started by the curiosity of explosive ? a lot. Please stop hurting education… and try to improve Europe as a free society not as a limited society.

Tags: freedom europe terrorism education explosive