The real crime is having an opinion not sponsored by a government-approved source of propaganda.

Excellent friend Franklin Carter at the Book and Periodical Council's Freedom of Expression Committee writes to tell me about this: In “Government crackdown on hatred goes a link too far” ( Kingston Whig-Standard, August 15, 2011), Alan Shanoff asks, “Is the federal government proposing to make hyperlinking a crime?”

That seems to be the case when you read Bill C-51, a federal bill called Investigative Powers for the 21st Century Act.

The stated purpose of Bill C-51 is the modernization of certain criminal offences. One of the offences to be modernized is the offence of public promotion of hatred against an identifiable group. ...

The new and improved modernized definition makes it crystal clear that hyperlinking is a form of communication. After all, what better way to make something available than providing a link to it, a link you can access with the click of a mouse?

He asks, “ ... many of these sites contain hurtful language but should anybody linking to such sites for any reason be at risk of prosecution?”

Yes indeed, depending on what one means by “Investigative Powers for the 21st Century.” The real crime is having an opinion not sponsored by a government-approved source of propaganda.

If it passes, here is what can happen to the blogger:

1. Lillian Rose is a garden maven whose blog frequently features links to botanist John Turricle’s wonderful work on mildew-resistant blooms. Retirees, into gardening, love her blog.

Rose doesn’t know it, but Turricle is also an avowed racist, and features his eruptions on race in the “Other” section of his blog - stuff she has never so much as looked at, because she and her readers are totally focused on winning the flower show.

Sorry, Rose. Someone complained, and linkers like you were then eagerly sought, by armies of bureaucrats with nothing better to do. So, GAVEL!! Guilty! of spreading hate, with all the fines, adult reform school, and humiliation that implies. Gardening blog hobby, ... toast.

2. Honest John Deal runs a business catering to amputees. Some of his assisted living devices come from a site whose owner insists, from time to time, on featuring anti-Muslim editorials.

Honest John doesn’t agree with the site owners’s views, but that guy is the one distributor who ships to John’s area with no hassles, and amputees hobble by every single day to see if their life-assisting shipments are safely in.

Sorry, John. Someone complained, and linkers like you were then eagerly sought, by armies of bureaucrats with nothing better to do. So, GAVEL!! Guilty! of spreading hate, with all the fines, adult reform school, and humiliation that implies. Business helping others, ... toast.

3. Annie Sellfridge owns and operates an appliance store in a multicultural area. She puts her inventory on line, and also features a popular site section on Saving on Electricity Bills. She doesn’t know it, but one of the sites she linked to is run by “climate change deniers,” who provide their free opinion on that subject, along with advice about energy-efficient appliances. (All Sellfridge was interested in was the fact that they provide multinational numbers , so new immigrant customers can relate to the numbers they best understand.)

Sorry, Annie. Someone complained, and linkers like you were then eagerly sought, by armies of bureaucrats with nothing better to do. So, GAVEL!! Guilty! of spreading hate, with all the fines, adult reform school, and humiliation that implies. Business providing a needed service, ... toast.

4. Blogger O’Leary was interviewing the author of an anti-eugenics book, and - to clearly demo the fact that antique forms of racism survive to the present day - she links to one of them.

Sorry, O’Leary. Someone complained, and linkers like you were then eagerly sought, by armies of bureaucrats with nothing better to do. So, GAVEL!! Guilty! of ...

Spreading: yuh, whatever.

If government cannot do better than this, let’s just dispense with government. Okay? How much worse off would we be without it? Alternatively, write to your Member of Parliament. Tell them you think the Internet should be free, like the press.

And read Tyranny of Nice, Shakedown, and America Alone. And any book on civil liberties.