In the ensuing furore that surrounds the bigoted rantings of New Zealand talkback and television personalities the term ‘freedom of speech’ gets regularly bandied about to defend the right to state publicly whatever ignorant and inflammatory opinions these individuals may have. What is forgotten in these defenses of their bigotry is the actual point and value of the freedom to speak.

While in New Zealand freedom of speech is considered an unequivocal right, the reality is that it is a rare privilege which many in the world do not have. In considering freedom of speech as a privilege rather than a right, the question of responsibility emerges - the responsibility to use this privilege wisely, to not waste it in defense of flippant bigotry, and also the imperative to use it when it is needed, to speak out against injustices. This is, after all, the actual point of freedom of speech: not the right to say whatever one wants with impunity, but the freedom to critique those in power, to hold them accountable for their actions.

With this definition of free speech in mind, it becomes imperative then to speak out against the aforementioned bigotry which is openly distributed in our major media outlets and which exacerbates tensions and propagates mainstream prejudice throughout an already troubled country. Simply ignoring this bigotry as being an individual expression of 'freedom of speech' amounts to a passive acceptance, which in truth is almost as damaging as if we voiced these opinions ourselves.