Rebel News Podcast - Defend Media Freedom Conference was “a whitewash by Chrystia Freeland”

00:00:00.520 You're listening to a Rebel Media Podcast.

00:00:03.800 At 9.30 in the morning, Tommy Robinson is sent to prison.

00:00:07.320 At 10.30, the British government boasts about free speech.

00:00:11.180 It's July 12th, and this is the Ezra LeVant Show.

00:00:16.020 Why should others go to jail when you're a biggest carbon consumer I know?

00:00:19.820 There's 8,500 customers here, and you won't give them an answer.

00:00:23.900 The only thing I have to say to the government about why I'm publishing it

00:00:27.500 is because it's my bloody right to do so.

00:00:30.000 Well, it was a busy week.

00:00:36.560 I was here for the Defend Media Freedom Conference.

00:00:40.880 Of course, you can't have a government conference on defending media freedom.

00:00:44.000 That's like having a vegetarian conference at McDonald's.

00:00:46.840 I know that's a dumb joke, but that's the closest thing I can think of.

00:00:50.500 But I was also here because yesterday at 9.30 in the morning,

00:00:55.760 Tommy Robinson was in court yet again.

00:00:57.300 I've been here probably 10 times now for his various trials.

00:01:00.000 He was sentenced by the court at the Old Bailey,

00:01:04.560 by the head of the Queen's Bench Division, no less, Dame Victoria Sharp,

00:01:09.760 to nine months in prison.

00:01:12.240 Nine months in prison for live-streaming his political commentary

00:01:15.580 outside a rape trial 14 months ago.

00:01:17.620 The trial did not impact the, sorry, his comments did not impact the rape trial.

00:01:23.360 It was concluded successfully.

00:01:24.940 All the men were convicted.

00:01:25.860 None of their appeals were upheld.

00:01:28.380 He didn't refer to any confidential matters from the court.

00:01:31.920 He only talked in general terms.

00:01:33.400 But for that, he was sentenced to nine months in prison.

00:01:41.560 Now, because of time served, as you know,

00:01:43.260 he served 10 weeks in solitary confinement improperly.

00:01:46.560 Because of various formulas and mathematical calculations,

00:01:50.680 because of that time served,

00:01:52.380 the nine-month sentence, six months was for the new sentence

00:01:56.980 and three months for the suspended sentence,

00:01:59.700 Tommy Robinson will actually serve 66 days in prison.

00:02:04.820 So almost two and a half months.

00:02:06.980 He'll be in prison for the rest of the summer

00:02:09.480 and while his kids start school.

00:02:11.440 He's got three beautiful young kids.

00:02:13.980 They'll spend the rest of the summer without their dad

00:02:15.820 and they'll start school without their dad.

00:02:18.280 And Tommy Robinson is in prison

00:02:19.740 while 23,000 known jihadis walk the streets of the United Kingdom.

00:02:27.980 Isn't that funny?

00:02:29.220 As I remarked the other day, in the United Kingdom,

00:02:31.800 they spent one million pounds prosecuting Tommy Robinson.

00:02:34.680 They spent one million pounds on policing for his trial

00:02:37.940 instead of going after the rape gangs. 0.82

00:02:41.460 It's quite incredible.

00:02:42.820 Now, that's an injustice in its own right

00:02:44.720 and I have a lot to say about that and you know that.

00:02:47.540 But the added layer of hypocrisy

00:02:50.680 that that was happening right when,

00:02:53.840 right when the Defend Media Freedom Conference

00:02:57.840 was being held by the British government

00:03:00.420 in concert with Canada.

00:03:01.980 That's just too much to process.

00:03:04.440 And it struck me by the utter silence

00:03:07.680 of everyone in this conference,

00:03:10.100 the utter incuriosity

00:03:11.480 that no one there was motivated

00:03:14.800 by freedom of speech like me

00:03:16.980 and our chief reporter, Sheila Gunn-Reed

00:03:18.860 and Andrew Lawton, our friend from the TNC.news.

00:03:23.680 This was not actually a conference

00:03:26.200 packed with free speech advocates.

00:03:28.820 It was actually a conference packed with,

00:03:31.440 to be honest, grant-seeking journalists

00:03:34.440 who were looking for some sort of a handout

00:03:36.400 or a bailout.

00:03:37.960 As I mentioned a couple of days ago,

00:03:40.720 the conference was actually sponsored

00:03:42.240 by some left-wing media tycoon

00:03:44.500 called Pierre Omidyar.

00:03:46.060 And he selected many of the panels

00:03:48.000 and many of the reporters here

00:03:49.700 were selected by him too.

00:03:51.160 They're all here to get their grant from him.

00:03:52.600 He's like a mini George Soros.

00:03:54.500 So this was not a free speech conference.

00:03:56.620 I was on a panel, another youth panel,

00:03:58.520 and I was very vigorous for free speech.

00:04:00.780 I said, we have to have the right to offend.

00:04:02.900 We have to have the right to say things

00:04:04.840 that are not popular.

00:04:06.460 And they looked at me like I was a leper.

00:04:09.540 And I was confused by this.

00:04:11.820 And I said to a critic afterwards,

00:04:13.580 surely a free speech conference

00:04:14.940 should have a free speech enthusiast.

00:04:17.500 Now, there was a professor I met

00:04:19.440 at one of the sessions

00:04:20.700 who sounded pretty free speechy.

00:04:22.700 And to my surprise, he was from Canada,

00:04:25.240 from Halifax in particular.

00:04:26.680 I had actually never heard of him

00:04:28.080 or met him before,

00:04:29.140 which tells me that maybe he hasn't been

00:04:30.700 that voluble about freedom of speech at all.

00:04:32.900 But I did manage to catch up with him

00:04:34.800 and I asked him a few questions

00:04:36.320 and he was a nice enough man

00:04:37.640 and I think he was generally for free speech.

00:04:39.320 So I don't think I grilled him

00:04:40.500 as hard as I might have or should have.

00:04:42.720 But take a look at my conversation with this guy.

00:04:46.760 Well, although the conference

00:04:48.000 is co-sponsored by Canada,

00:04:49.320 there's not a ton of Canadians here.

00:04:51.440 But what a pleasure to meet a Canadian expert

00:04:54.620 who I think's got a bit of a free speech bench.

00:04:56.900 I'm talking about Toby Mandel.

00:04:59.280 And you're with the Centre for Law and Democracy.

00:05:01.200 I just want to get that right.

00:05:01.940 Based in Halifax.

00:05:02.780 That's right.

00:05:03.480 Well, it's nice to see you.

00:05:04.600 Tell me a little bit about freedom of the press.

00:05:07.680 Is it under attack?

00:05:08.980 Is it in retreat?

00:05:10.380 That's an interesting question.

00:05:11.600 I mean, people keep saying that.

00:05:13.920 And I think if you look at

00:05:15.260 a lot of free speech organizations,

00:05:17.060 they have been saying for the last 20 years

00:05:19.100 that that was the case.

00:05:20.080 If that were true

00:05:20.880 and they could actually measure that,

00:05:22.560 we would have to be a long way down now

00:05:24.500 from where we were 20 years ago,

00:05:25.900 20 years of decline.

00:05:27.480 So I think it's just an easy thing to say.

00:05:29.680 I think we need to be a little bit more rigorous

00:05:31.220 about when we say that,

00:05:32.300 what we actually mean.

00:05:33.440 Do we mean it globally?

00:05:34.800 I mean, you know,

00:05:35.400 there's certainly some places

00:05:36.700 where it's under attack.

00:05:37.560 Well, let me tell you what I mean.

00:05:38.920 Five years ago,

00:05:39.720 the internet was about the freest place

00:05:41.080 you could imagine.

00:05:41.980 YouTube, Twitter, Facebook.

00:05:43.160 We're really the house of unbridled debate.

00:05:46.260 But since 2017,

00:05:47.820 there's been a crackdown from my point of view.

00:05:50.040 The terms of service have narrowed hate speech,

00:05:53.640 community standards.

00:05:54.900 You see deplatforming.

00:05:56.440 I think that's new.

00:05:57.940 Am I wrong or am I right?

00:05:59.540 No, you're right about that.

00:06:00.820 But I think what happened is,

00:06:02.020 I mean, you know,

00:06:02.720 as free speech activists,

00:06:04.480 10 years ago,

00:06:05.600 this was the mecca of free speech.

00:06:08.100 Anyone could...

00:06:09.000 So we can get it back?

00:06:09.660 Let's try and get it back.

00:06:10.440 Well, but I think what we've seen

00:06:12.620 is the emergence of sort of

00:06:14.400 some negative challenges on the internet,

00:06:17.200 challenges even to our elections

00:06:18.820 and the fairness of our elections.

00:06:20.300 So those are also attacks on free speech.

00:06:22.860 So we've started to see a little bit

00:06:24.220 of the two-sided,

00:06:26.020 two-headed monster, if you will.

00:06:27.540 So we need to kind of manage that.

00:06:30.320 Now, it's incredibly difficult to manage that

00:06:32.360 in ways that are compliant

00:06:33.820 with guarantees of free speech.

00:06:35.780 And I don't think we really have clear solutions.

00:06:38.440 Something needs to be done

00:06:39.620 if this is not going to undermine our elections.

00:06:41.660 And without our elections,

00:06:42.920 our democracies don't work.

00:06:44.200 And the whole...

00:06:44.820 I think that's a paper tiger.

00:06:46.560 I think that's a puffed-up threat

00:06:48.620 because, you know,

00:06:50.440 there's no evidence of any meddling

00:06:51.800 in the Canadian elections.

00:06:53.440 The whole Russia collusion meme,

00:06:56.140 I think, was largely discredited

00:06:57.800 by the Mueller inquiry,

00:06:58.920 which was exhaustive.

00:07:00.440 I think censoring the internet

00:07:04.180 because of some speculative future threat

00:07:06.260 to an election

00:07:06.800 that's not even being explained,

00:07:08.920 I think that's just an excuse.

00:07:10.300 Well, I mean, first of all,

00:07:12.240 I absolutely agree

00:07:13.080 that censoring the internet

00:07:14.440 is not what we need to do.

00:07:16.980 But I don't agree with you

00:07:18.980 that it's just a puffed-up threat.

00:07:20.240 You're right about the Canadian election,

00:07:21.640 but the Canadian government

00:07:22.440 is very concerned at the moment.

00:07:24.200 Now, we don't have that evidence.

00:07:25.420 But the Mueller report,

00:07:26.300 I'd have to disagree with you on that.

00:07:27.700 The Mueller report,

00:07:28.760 although it absolved the president

00:07:31.100 of wrongdoing,

00:07:32.580 or at least said

00:07:33.400 there wasn't enough evidence

00:07:34.480 to criminally charge him,

00:07:35.960 but it certainly did not say

00:07:37.500 that the Russians did not meddle.

00:07:38.600 Well, on the contrary...

00:07:40.260 There was no...

00:07:40.820 Okay.

00:07:42.520 Now, in the past six months,

00:07:43.820 I have observed...

00:07:44.720 It's serious, right?

00:07:45.880 Let's talk about Canada

00:07:46.820 because that's where you're based,

00:07:48.040 and I'm delighted

00:07:48.620 that you're based there.

00:07:49.900 And Halifax is such a wonderful city

00:07:51.380 with a bit of a free speech history

00:07:53.000 of, of course,

00:07:54.220 Joseph Howe.

00:07:55.540 I think he's a Canadian hero.

00:07:57.480 Here's my question for you,

00:07:58.420 and I know you've got to go,

00:07:59.320 so I just sort of grabbed you

00:08:00.600 because I saw you walking by.

00:08:02.140 Here's what I've observed.

00:08:03.180 In the last six months or so,

00:08:05.700 the liberals are bringing back

00:08:07.300 Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act,

00:08:09.940 the censorship provision.

00:08:11.540 We see them throwing tens of millions of dollars

00:08:14.820 behind their anti-Islamophobia campaign.

00:08:17.700 We see the Public Safety Ministry

00:08:19.580 naming speech as a risk.

00:08:23.280 We see a five-man panel

00:08:25.280 to oversee the internet.

00:08:26.960 Michael Wernick was going to be on it,

00:08:28.820 the clerk of the Privy Council.

00:08:30.420 A five-person election monitoring social media.

00:08:34.220 Like, we're seeing again and again

00:08:35.760 all these restrictions.

00:08:36.740 And finally,

00:08:37.720 Justin Trudeau himself

00:08:39.400 told Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook

00:08:41.800 that if she didn't regulate Facebook 0.98

00:08:43.960 for political content,

00:08:45.340 he would.

00:08:46.340 I see all these things working in tandem,

00:08:49.260 and I'm nervous.

00:08:50.960 What do you think?

00:08:52.020 Yeah, no, I agree.

00:08:53.660 I mean, I think we,

00:08:54.660 I think the problem is,

00:08:55.920 so, you know,

00:08:56.600 people like myself

00:08:57.660 that have been,

00:08:58.640 you know,

00:08:58.800 for 20 years,

00:08:59.820 hardcore free speech advocates,

00:09:01.860 you know,

00:09:02.600 we see all of those problems

00:09:04.800 that you're talking about.

00:09:05.920 We see when governments

00:09:06.920 start to step in,

00:09:07.700 the risks and the challenges.

00:09:09.400 On the other hand,

00:09:10.660 you know,

00:09:10.980 where we might disagree a little bit,

00:09:12.680 we also see some threats

00:09:14.600 even to free speech itself

00:09:16.120 on the internet.

00:09:17.720 So, and we don't really,

00:09:19.660 I mean,

00:09:19.820 we're still struggling

00:09:20.720 to find a balance,

00:09:22.900 the appropriate balance here.

00:09:24.180 We don't want censorship,

00:09:25.120 we don't want government control,

00:09:26.840 absolutely not,

00:09:27.860 five-man panels,

00:09:29.340 you know, regulating.

00:09:30.620 But on the other hand,

00:09:31.960 we do see the emergence

00:09:33.200 of threats on the internet,

00:09:34.900 even threats to free speech

00:09:36.320 on the internet,

00:09:37.140 and how to find the balance.

00:09:39.040 And I think that,

00:09:39.580 you know,

00:09:39.700 if you look at the joint declaration

00:09:41.060 that I work with

00:09:42.100 on the four special rapporteurs,

00:09:43.360 which I launched yesterday

00:09:44.380 with them,

00:09:45.220 you can see within that

00:09:46.460 a certain ambiguity.

00:09:47.820 You know,

00:09:49.040 there are some problems,

00:09:50.800 we don't want regulation,

00:09:52.840 but we do want to solve the problems,

00:09:55.100 and I think we really need

00:09:56.340 some out-of-the-box thinking,

00:09:58.220 and, you know,

00:09:58.700 governments are not good at that.

00:10:00.240 When governments step in,

00:10:01.280 they usually do the wrong thing.

00:10:02.980 So how to kind of,

00:10:04.240 but I think now the obligation

00:10:06.120 is with us

00:10:06.900 as the free speech community

00:10:08.140 to come up with reasonable solutions

00:10:10.740 to some of the problems

00:10:11.700 that we are seeing starting to emerge,

00:10:13.540 which I think do include

00:10:15.440 threats to democracy

00:10:16.460 and threats to elections,

00:10:17.500 but threats that,

00:10:18.920 solutions that don't,

00:10:20.240 you know,

00:10:20.600 undermine free speech.

00:10:21.700 So I think that this is

00:10:22.440 the challenge that really faces us.

00:10:24.360 Last question.

00:10:25.400 This conference was co-hosted

00:10:26.980 by the UK and Canadian governments,

00:10:28.980 and Chrystia Freeland

00:10:29.760 certainly enjoyed her time

00:10:31.140 in the sun with Amal Clooney.

00:10:33.240 But I just think that

00:10:34.780 Chrystia Freeland

00:10:35.780 has been silent

00:10:36.840 on free speech at home,

00:10:39.980 and she hasn't spoken out

00:10:41.280 against these trends I've mentioned.

00:10:43.400 I believe that having

00:10:44.780 a government conference

00:10:46.600 on freedom

00:10:47.180 is a contradiction in terms.

00:10:48.980 And I think this is a fig leaf

00:10:50.820 for her to get

00:10:52.000 free speech credentials

00:10:53.260 to cover up the fact

00:10:55.080 that those several trends

00:10:57.220 I mentioned

00:10:57.720 are going on the wrong path.

00:10:59.420 But I'm a skeptic

00:11:00.660 of this liberal government.

00:11:01.480 I'm a harsh critic.

00:11:02.660 I think you're more neutral than me.

00:11:04.180 What do you think?

00:11:04.760 So I think that it's very, very important

00:11:07.700 that governments from democracies

00:11:10.660 do engage on this issue.

00:11:12.460 We need their support

00:11:13.880 to combat threats to free speech.

00:11:17.120 I mean, the threats you've talked about in Canada,

00:11:18.600 I think they're very interesting.

00:11:20.180 But the threats that we're seeing in Russia,

00:11:22.080 in China,

00:11:23.280 in wherever,

00:11:24.940 those are vastly more serious.

00:11:27.520 Those are countries

00:11:28.220 where people don't enjoy free speech at all.

00:11:29.940 And if we're going to push back

00:11:31.020 on those countries,

00:11:32.220 we in the free world,

00:11:33.500 if you will,

00:11:34.180 really need to get together

00:11:35.280 and do that.

00:11:35.840 So we do need the support of governments.

00:11:37.760 I do agree that Canada's

00:11:39.320 kind of jumping in on this issue

00:11:40.800 has not been an issue

00:11:41.660 that Canada has heavily engaged in

00:11:43.080 on the past.

00:11:44.080 Hopefully, through this process,

00:11:46.100 they will do more of that.

00:11:47.600 We need funding to come for governments

00:11:49.080 for the work that we do.

00:11:50.380 We need their support

00:11:51.460 in diplomatic terms

00:11:52.660 and in political pressure terms

00:11:53.860 and sometimes even in sanctions terms.

00:11:55.900 So I mean,

00:11:56.100 I think they're a very important part

00:11:57.660 of the system.

00:11:58.560 But I would have liked to have seen,

00:12:00.300 for example,

00:12:00.820 more NGO people

00:12:02.000 and journalists on the panels

00:12:04.220 and less officials.

00:12:05.940 So I think that, you know,

00:12:06.880 we're still struggling

00:12:07.620 a little bit with the balance.

00:12:08.780 All right.

00:12:09.240 Well, Toby Mendel,

00:12:10.440 it's a pleasure to talk with you.

00:12:11.640 Thank you for that.

00:12:12.460 I think I'm more of a free speech purist

00:12:14.580 than you,

00:12:15.360 but if I only talk to people

00:12:17.200 as free speechy as me,

00:12:18.680 I wouldn't be talking

00:12:19.480 to a lot of people.

00:12:20.340 It's nice to meet you in person

00:12:21.640 and thanks for your time.

00:12:22.660 No, my pleasure.

00:12:23.480 Cheers.

00:12:24.340 Thanks.

00:12:25.260 You know, a nice enough guy,

00:12:27.000 friendly enough

00:12:27.500 to have a conversation with me,

00:12:29.260 but did you hear what he said?

00:12:30.500 He's worried about the internet

00:12:32.360 being used against free speech.

00:12:34.420 We have to censor it

00:12:35.840 to protect free speech.

00:12:37.280 He's worried that the election

00:12:39.100 is going to be hacked or something.

00:12:41.180 What is he talking about?

00:12:42.140 There is zero evidence whatsoever

00:12:43.540 that the Canadian election

00:12:44.780 is in any jeopardy.

00:12:46.540 That's just a pretext for censorship

00:12:49.740 and it seems like he'd drunk

00:12:52.020 the Kool-Aid on that issue.

00:12:53.620 Maybe I didn't want to ask him

00:12:55.340 if he was on the payroll.

00:12:56.320 I suspect since he was

00:12:57.600 an official delegate

00:12:58.900 that he received a handsome honorarium

00:13:00.720 from that billionaire

00:13:01.760 Pierre Omidyar to be here.

00:13:03.480 But if that's the most free speechy guy

00:13:05.620 you're going to find,

00:13:06.240 somebody who says,

00:13:06.700 well, there hasn't been

00:13:07.560 that many free speech problems.

00:13:08.880 It's not as bad

00:13:09.600 as some third world dictatorships.

00:13:10.980 And yeah, we got to watch out

00:13:12.160 because the internet

00:13:13.020 is going to be hijacked,

00:13:14.040 so we should hijack it first.

00:13:15.220 If that's the best free speech

00:13:16.940 Nick we have in Canada,

00:13:18.120 I think we're in some trouble.

00:13:20.320 Well, I mentioned Andrew Lawton

00:13:22.220 who was here with TNC News

00:13:24.240 and I caught up with him at the end.

00:13:25.680 It's always nice to see that guy.

00:13:26.920 I've accompanied him in the past

00:13:28.300 to Tommy Robinson's trials.

00:13:30.380 Of course, he's been a guest

00:13:31.460 on my show many times.

00:13:32.700 And so I just talked to him

00:13:33.580 a little bit about what he thought

00:13:34.780 about the whole goings-on.

00:13:36.020 And here's my interview with him.

00:13:37.800 Well, as you know,

00:13:38.820 my friend Sheila Gunn-Reed

00:13:39.880 is here at the Media Freedom Conference

00:13:41.840 with me.

00:13:42.560 But we also have another Canadian ally,

00:13:45.780 a fan favourite of the show,

00:13:47.220 my friend Andrew Lawton.

00:13:48.040 Great to see you.

00:13:48.860 Likewise.

00:13:49.460 Great to be here covering this

00:13:50.760 in conjunction with your team.

00:13:52.640 You know what?

00:13:53.060 You've been in the UK with us before

00:13:55.180 covering the Tommy Robinson case.

00:13:56.760 How ironic that literally today

00:13:58.740 he was sent off to prison,

00:14:00.560 a nine-month total jail term.

00:14:02.220 He'll wind up serving

00:14:03.020 about two and a half of that

00:14:04.000 while the government of the UK

00:14:06.140 and the government of Canada

00:14:07.220 talk about how much

00:14:08.420 they love media freedom.

00:14:09.380 So ironic.

00:14:10.800 Yeah, and it's interesting.

00:14:11.860 When I decided months ago

00:14:13.780 that I wanted to cover this conference,

00:14:15.820 it was because I really hoped

00:14:17.300 it would be an introspective look

00:14:18.800 at free speech all around the world

00:14:20.520 and certainly in the host countries,

00:14:22.060 Canada and the UK.

00:14:23.280 And the one thing that I find interesting here

00:14:24.980 is that we're coming up

00:14:25.820 on the end of day two.

00:14:27.220 And I don't think I've seen

00:14:28.420 a single example

00:14:29.960 of any introspection

00:14:31.840 from Canada or the UK on this.

00:14:33.580 Lots of talk about things

00:14:34.940 that are happening elsewhere

00:14:35.740 in the world

00:14:36.240 and very awful things.

00:14:37.640 I mean, journalists in Venezuela

00:14:39.180 and Ghana that are being persecuted,

00:14:41.120 killed, jailed.

00:14:41.840 And I think it's important

00:14:42.780 to stand up against that.

00:14:44.340 But there's nothing controversial

00:14:45.680 about Chrystia Freeland saying

00:14:47.020 we're against journalists

00:14:47.940 getting killed. 0.62

00:14:48.600 There's nothing controversial

00:14:49.540 about Jeremy Hunt saying

00:14:51.180 we don't want journalists

00:14:52.120 to be in prison.

00:14:53.120 The real hard work

00:14:54.960 is in talking about

00:14:55.940 the shortcomings

00:14:56.540 of your own countries

00:14:57.380 and there's been none of that.

00:14:58.920 You're exactly right.

00:15:00.180 But it's worse than that.

00:15:01.260 And you wrote

00:15:01.960 an excellent article

00:15:02.900 at TNC.news,

00:15:05.280 which I would recommend

00:15:06.300 to all our viewers.

00:15:07.600 Tell us about an honored guest.

00:15:10.220 Now, this morning,

00:15:10.740 I was at the Tommy trial,

00:15:12.040 so you were holding

00:15:12.880 the fort here with Sheila.

00:15:14.040 Tell me about this,

00:15:15.720 well, your scoop

00:15:16.400 about this Malaysian honored guest.

00:15:19.340 You know, one of the big themes

00:15:20.760 in all of the speakers here,

00:15:22.340 supposedly,

00:15:23.020 is that they have

00:15:23.680 an ironclad commitment

00:15:24.820 to free speech

00:15:25.520 and free expression.

00:15:26.380 And when I saw

00:15:27.680 that one of the speakers,

00:15:29.180 not just on some panel

00:15:30.260 in conference room Z4,

00:15:32.240 but the plenary session

00:15:34.640 opening the day,

00:15:35.940 really the official closing

00:15:37.100 of the conference,

00:15:37.900 on stage with Jeremy Hunt

00:15:39.200 and Chrystia Freeland, 0.99

00:15:40.040 the foreign minister

00:15:40.720 of Britain and the UK,

00:15:42.320 is the communications

00:15:43.400 and multimedia minister

00:15:44.600 for Malaysia.

00:15:45.760 Now, when I saw Malaysia, 0.51

00:15:46.880 I was very surprised,

00:15:48.180 pleasantly so,

00:15:48.940 because this is a country

00:15:50.020 that I don't often associate

00:15:51.200 with free speech.

00:15:52.500 And I decided to look

00:15:53.600 a little bit into

00:15:54.260 not just the country's policies,

00:15:56.300 but the policies

00:15:57.360 of the speaker himself,

00:15:59.780 a man who, again,

00:16:01.860 has had this post

00:16:02.780 and in his time

00:16:03.620 as the minister of communications

00:16:04.960 and multimedia

00:16:06.060 has actually called

00:16:07.060 for censorship

00:16:07.920 and called for the prosecution

00:16:09.960 of publishers.

00:16:10.940 And one notable example

00:16:11.920 of this was that he wanted

00:16:13.380 a publisher of an outlet

00:16:15.060 called Malaysia Today,

00:16:16.160 which is actually published

00:16:17.020 from England,

00:16:18.200 prosecuted.

00:16:19.220 And he said that he wanted,

00:16:20.480 in his words,

00:16:21.040 his extraterritorial powers

00:16:22.840 of hate speech legislation

00:16:24.560 so that Malaysia 0.76

00:16:25.380 could enforce its censorship

00:16:27.260 around the world.

00:16:28.680 This sounds like

00:16:29.180 the worst kind of guy

00:16:30.660 and he's on the stage

00:16:32.080 on the main session

00:16:33.200 as an honoured guest.

00:16:34.100 I really hope

00:16:35.020 there would be questions

00:16:35.840 taken in that session

00:16:36.820 for one reason alone.

00:16:38.720 And that was that

00:16:39.300 Jeremy Hunt held up

00:16:40.900 this man as a pioneer.

00:16:42.100 That's the foreign secretary

00:16:42.960 of the UK.

00:16:43.820 Yes, and he held up

00:16:44.720 this man, this minister,

00:16:46.120 as really the hero

00:16:47.460 of someone on the front lines

00:16:48.460 of free speech

00:16:48.900 when this man

00:16:49.980 wanted to prosecute

00:16:51.400 one of Jeremy Hunt's citizens

00:16:53.420 just in September.

00:16:55.820 And it goes further than that.

00:16:57.280 He also, in March,

00:16:58.480 had pushed for a law

00:16:59.900 that would force news outlets

00:17:02.500 to be liable

00:17:03.320 if someone goes and comments

00:17:04.760 on a story

00:17:05.480 in a way that's inflammatory.

00:17:07.700 And, you know,

00:17:08.380 I put this question

00:17:09.100 to Chrystia Freeland

00:17:09.880 in a scrum,

00:17:11.200 which is a different story entirely.

00:17:12.660 I know Sheila Gunn-Reed 0.98

00:17:13.460 will tell it.

00:17:13.980 And her response was,

00:17:15.740 this isn't a conference

00:17:16.400 of angels.

00:17:17.600 Well, you know, it's...

00:17:18.740 I agree with her, by the way.

00:17:19.820 It's not.

00:17:20.600 But whether it should be

00:17:21.540 is a different question.

00:17:22.480 Well, you know,

00:17:22.820 I want to show you

00:17:23.260 a very quick clip.

00:17:24.720 I just sat down

00:17:25.580 at some session.

00:17:26.760 I didn't even know

00:17:27.220 who was there.

00:17:28.040 And then I heard this guy

00:17:28.960 talking about Pakistan.

00:17:29.900 I know a little bit

00:17:30.680 about Pakistan.

00:17:31.520 Our friend Tarek Fada

00:17:32.460 talks a lot about it.

00:17:34.820 We all know the story

00:17:35.900 of Asia Bibi.

00:17:37.000 That's a Christian woman

00:17:37.860 who was sentenced

00:17:39.000 first to death

00:17:40.220 and then to prison

00:17:41.040 for blasphemy.

00:17:43.160 And I thought,

00:17:44.100 this guy,

00:17:45.440 this spokesman

00:17:46.780 for Pakistan...

00:17:47.500 Well, it turns out

00:17:47.900 he was a foreign minister

00:17:49.100 and Pakistan censored me

00:17:51.900 in Canada.

00:17:52.920 Let me show you

00:17:53.320 a very quick clip.

00:17:54.780 I got to tell you,

00:17:55.600 Andrew,

00:17:56.520 I let her rip. 1.00

00:17:57.300 Maybe I was a little too hard,

00:17:58.640 but I'll let our viewers decide.

00:17:59.740 Here, take a quick look at this.

00:18:01.140 Thanks.

00:18:01.580 Actually, I'm not going

00:18:02.280 to be directed by you.

00:18:03.320 I'm going to ask a question

00:18:04.240 to the Pakistani gentleman.

00:18:05.920 No, you know.

00:18:06.440 Yes, I am.

00:18:07.240 Because it's a media

00:18:07.940 freedom conference

00:18:08.840 and you're not going

00:18:09.420 to shut down questions,

00:18:10.440 about a censor.

00:18:11.720 You censored me, sir.

00:18:13.340 I have a Twitter account

00:18:14.740 in Canada

00:18:15.360 and because I wrote something

00:18:17.120 that produced

00:18:18.080 some Pakistani blasphemy law,

00:18:20.960 you complained to Twitter

00:18:22.460 which took down

00:18:23.580 my tweet in Canada.

00:18:25.560 So can you explain

00:18:26.960 why your Islamic supremacy 1.00

00:18:29.480 in Pakistan

00:18:30.620 is silencing my personal

00:18:32.640 and journalistic freedom

00:18:33.920 in Canada?

00:18:35.140 And I know it happens

00:18:36.020 in the United States too.

00:18:37.200 And frankly,

00:18:37.720 you sure should be embarrassed

00:18:39.120 to invite a censor like this

00:18:40.420 but back to the thug,

00:18:41.800 who the hell are you 0.77

00:18:42.760 to censor me in Canada?

00:18:44.300 Answer.

00:18:44.860 Now, I don't like...

00:18:46.500 I know you don't

00:18:47.240 because you don't like

00:18:48.120 free speech.

00:18:49.120 I don't like...

00:18:49.860 You don't like free speech.

00:18:51.540 Now, okay.

00:18:52.120 Would you like to not censor...

00:18:53.080 Now, I'll just respond to you, sir.

00:18:55.320 First of all,

00:18:56.800 you want your sentiments

00:18:58.820 to be respected.

00:19:00.420 Now, just look at the tone

00:19:02.200 and the terror you've adopted.

00:19:04.540 Is that the correct way?

00:19:06.520 You have a right last question, sir.

00:19:08.140 Well, then why did you censor me?

00:19:09.700 Did I censor you?

00:19:10.600 You shut down my Twitter tweet.

00:19:11.820 I did not.

00:19:12.660 Don't lie.

00:19:14.300 How can I...

00:19:15.240 How am I responsible for that?

00:19:16.760 Because the government

00:19:17.420 of Pakistan did.

00:19:18.960 The government of Pakistan.

00:19:20.260 I'm respectful to you.

00:19:21.220 No, you were not.

00:19:22.240 You censored me.

00:19:23.460 I did not censor you.

00:19:24.380 Don't lie.

00:19:25.020 All right.

00:19:25.420 Why would I lie?

00:19:26.280 Because that's what you do.

00:19:27.360 I think you're fine.

00:19:28.080 You don't.

00:19:28.900 I'm sorry.

00:19:29.860 I'm sorry.

00:19:30.600 Shame on you 0.77

00:19:31.280 and shame on you.

00:19:32.160 You have...

00:19:32.720 Shame on you 0.77

00:19:33.680 and shame on you

00:19:34.680 for inviting you.

00:19:35.440 You have double standards.

00:19:36.120 Shame on you.

00:19:37.160 You censorious thug.

00:19:39.600 You censorious thug.

00:19:41.640 And what you call freedom

00:19:43.220 at times you are projecting

00:19:45.760 certain sectoral agendas.

00:19:47.960 Andrew, I don't know

00:19:48.860 if that was my finest moment,

00:19:50.560 but I don't think

00:19:52.000 that foreign minister

00:19:53.080 of Pakistan

00:19:53.580 has ever been spoken to

00:19:55.260 critically, skeptically,

00:19:56.900 let alone forcefully

00:19:58.360 by a journalist ever

00:19:59.460 because you don't do that

00:20:00.400 in Pakistan.

00:20:00.960 You wind up in prison.

00:20:02.440 Yeah, I actually think

00:20:03.180 you've been denied accreditation

00:20:04.360 for the Pakistan

00:20:05.040 press freedom conference

00:20:06.140 which is just as well

00:20:06.860 because there's no one there.

00:20:08.160 They've imprisoned them all

00:20:09.220 but it's baffling.

00:20:10.320 They're trying to do

00:20:10.980 the thing that Malaysia 0.84

00:20:11.740 is trying to do

00:20:12.220 which is this extraterritorial...

00:20:14.280 Yeah, they censored me

00:20:15.100 in Canada through Twitter.

00:20:16.680 Yeah, but what you raise there

00:20:18.240 is the biggest problem in this

00:20:19.500 which is that big tech

00:20:20.680 is serving as an agent

00:20:22.080 of the government

00:20:23.260 and this has been

00:20:24.100 another area.

00:20:25.120 There's been a little bit

00:20:25.980 of discussion

00:20:26.500 from some NGOs

00:20:27.380 and I was actually

00:20:28.040 quite pleasantly surprised

00:20:29.120 that David Kaye,

00:20:30.620 the UN Special Rapporteur

00:20:32.020 was talking about

00:20:32.780 the big tech alliance

00:20:34.000 but again,

00:20:35.060 the challenge here

00:20:36.060 is that no one in government

00:20:37.260 is prepared to end that

00:20:39.220 and in fact,

00:20:39.860 in Canada,

00:20:40.440 it's the contrary

00:20:41.400 where you have government

00:20:42.480 now trying to regulate

00:20:44.240 social media companies

00:20:45.560 through Revive Section 13

00:20:47.540 and none of these issues

00:20:48.880 have been discussed

00:20:49.460 and not only that,

00:20:50.560 there have been

00:20:50.920 no opportunities

00:20:51.660 to put these concerns

00:20:53.280 to the Canadian

00:20:54.360 or English delegations.

00:20:55.780 That's a very good point,

00:20:56.720 the Section 13.

00:20:57.860 I know you've got to go

00:20:59.280 to this another session

00:21:00.060 and I'm actually,

00:21:00.840 I've been invited

00:21:01.320 to be on some kids panel

00:21:02.520 or something

00:21:03.100 so I've got to go do that now.

00:21:04.460 It's great to see you.

00:21:05.640 I'm glad that you're here

00:21:06.700 and there were a couple

00:21:07.340 other Canadians here

00:21:08.200 who didn't do a bad job.

00:21:09.760 We can talk about that

00:21:10.400 another time.

00:21:11.260 Keep up the fight.

00:21:12.020 You know what?

00:21:12.540 TNC News,

00:21:13.340 I'm glad you guys are around.

00:21:14.600 I feel less lonely

00:21:15.520 knowing there's another

00:21:16.480 freedom fighter around.

00:21:18.260 Cheers, mate.

00:21:18.780 Thanks very much.

00:21:19.360 That's what they say here.

00:21:20.020 Cheers, mate.

00:21:20.680 All right, Andrew.

00:21:21.320 Thanks.

00:21:22.220 Well, that's it

00:21:22.880 from here in London

00:21:23.780 and I know I've been away a lot.

00:21:25.420 Tommy Robinson's conviction

00:21:26.860 last week,

00:21:27.820 his sentencing this week

00:21:29.040 and now this

00:21:30.020 free speech conference.

00:21:31.700 Oh my God,

00:21:32.340 I hope my traveling

00:21:33.100 is done for a while.

00:21:34.140 I'm just pooped

00:21:34.940 from flying back and forth

00:21:36.020 and I'd like to be in the studio

00:21:37.560 and to talk about other things.

00:21:39.440 But I think

00:21:40.140 this was a Canadian story

00:21:42.040 even though I'm in the UK

00:21:43.440 because it showed

00:21:44.920 that Canada is part

00:21:45.880 of a global movement

00:21:46.900 by the left

00:21:47.680 to censor media

00:21:49.340 in the guise

00:21:50.200 of cracking down

00:21:51.000 on fake news

00:21:52.100 and disinformation

00:21:53.140 and Russian collusion

00:21:55.020 or whatever.

00:21:55.520 And it's depressing

00:21:57.060 to see that

00:21:57.700 for the most part

00:21:59.920 they're getting away

00:22:01.220 with it,

00:22:01.600 these governments.

00:22:02.280 There was that one

00:22:02.860 impressive moment

00:22:03.660 when the other

00:22:05.140 mainstream media journalists

00:22:06.340 stood by the rebel

00:22:07.380 and wouldn't go

00:22:08.400 to Chrystia Freeland's

00:22:09.680 press conference

00:22:10.220 unless we were let in too.

00:22:11.600 There was that one

00:22:12.300 flicker of free speech

00:22:13.540 but for the rest of it

00:22:14.480 the whole thing

00:22:15.780 was a camouflage.

00:22:17.420 It's like that old song

00:22:18.760 goes that I mentioned

00:22:19.640 the other day.

00:22:21.160 They took all the trees

00:22:22.240 and put them

00:22:22.740 in a tree museum

00:22:23.940 and charged all the people

00:22:25.120 a dollar and a half

00:22:25.860 just to see them.

00:22:26.560 You know that old song?

00:22:28.120 Well, I think that's

00:22:28.940 Joni Mitchell.

00:22:29.480 I think I said

00:22:29.960 that was Janice Joplin

00:22:30.800 the other day.

00:22:31.640 That's what's happened here.

00:22:32.720 They took the free speech

00:22:33.740 and they put it

00:22:34.280 in a free speech museum

00:22:35.460 and once a year

00:22:36.440 they'll talk about it

00:22:37.380 at a conference

00:22:38.200 but they won't practice it.

00:22:39.780 They won't practice it.

00:22:41.080 It's not being practiced

00:22:41.820 in the United Kingdom.

00:22:42.620 They sent Tommy Robinson

00:22:43.460 to prison.

00:22:44.420 It's not being practiced

00:22:45.060 in Canada.

00:22:45.640 They're bringing in censorship

00:22:46.420 as soon as they can.

00:22:48.000 The whole thing

00:22:48.960 was a whitewash

00:22:50.280 for Chrystia Freeland.

00:22:51.580 That's why this is

00:22:52.380 interesting to Canadians.

00:22:53.800 All right, folks,

00:22:54.240 I'll be back in Canada

00:22:55.180 over the weekend on Monday.

00:22:57.040 I'll see you bright and early.

00:22:58.000 Until then,

00:22:58.720 on behalf of all of us

00:22:59.700 here at The Rebel

00:23:00.440 around the world,

00:23:01.260 to you at home,

00:23:01.700 good night

00:23:02.100 and keep fighting

00:23:03.840 for freedom

00:23:04.300 while you still can.

00:23:11.820 so we'll see you

00:23:19.480 all in there.

00:23:20.520 See you next time

00:23:21.500 .

00:23:22.380 .

Rebel News Podcast - July 13, 2019

Defend Media Freedom Conference was “a whitewash by Chrystia Freeland”

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