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Defending Voltaire to death : Comments
By Helen Pringle, published 6/9/2005Helen Pringle argues all those who quote Voltaire's defence of free speech have got it wrong.
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However there can be a loophole that is often exploited by people in the media (including academics), which is humour. Someone can make a discriminatory statement, (but not be required to verify or prove it), by saying that it was a “tongue in cheek” or a humorous statement.
However if someone repeatedly makes those “humorous” type discriminatory statements, then it becomes gratuitous, and would now constitute discrimination, and I’m particularly thinking of an academic Dr Susan Maushart, who repeatedly makes the most discriminatory statements about the male gender in the media, but then tries to disguises it as humour.
It does appear that there are rules for certain accademics, but not others.