France has either forgotten what it was like under Nazi rule or greatly enjoyed it because they continue down the road to fascism. With the recent gunman who terrorized the people of France gone the state is looking at ways to exploit the situation to further solidify its power and one of those ways is advocating a law that will give jail time to those who visit “extremist” websites. Nicolas Sarkozy, the current dictator under threat of being ousted, has been pushing this law and is pulling out all the stops:
On Thursday, Sarkozy used a televised address to propose a new set of laws that criminalize the use of websites affiliated with terrorist sympathizers and hate groups. “From now on, any person who habitually consults Web sites that advocate terrorism or that call for hatred and violence will be criminally punished,” he said.
The pronouncement came on the heels of the police manhunt for and 32-hour standoff with Mohamed Merah, a 23-year old French citizen accused of murdering three French paratroopers, a rabbi, and three Jewish schoolchildren. “Don’t tell me it’s not possible,” Sarkozy said. “What is possible for pedophiles should be possible for trainee terrorists and their supporters, too.”
Emphasis mine. Sarkozy not only played the terrorism card but also managed to play the pedophile card. Either card in of themselves can guarantee the passage of a law but when you combine the two it has to be a surefire win. What politician is willing to vote down a law that could get them accused of being a terrorist pedophile?
It’s pretty obvious this law is going to be slammed through and that will require even more state monitoring of French denizens’ Internet activities. I’m sure that the law will be expanded in the future to give jail time to denizens who visit sites with other types of unapproved information like pornography and websites providing anti-government news.