Two U.S. congressmen have proposed legislation to label satellite providers of incendiary TV stations as terrorist organizations -- the latest attempt by lawmakers to prevent radical anti-American propaganda from hitting the airwaves, even abroad.
The bill, authored by Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., and Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., seeks to punish satellite companies that carry channels that are mouthpieces for known terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas -- stations they say incite their audiences to commit acts of terrorism against the United States.
But some free speech advocates question the constitutionality and consequences of the legislation, arguing that such modes of communication are a useful tool in monitoring terrorist movements.
"The constitutionality of such a statute is uphill," said Harvey Silverglate, a civil liberties attorney with the Boston-based law firm Zalkind Rodriguez Lunt & Duncan LLP.
"It runs against the grain of the way in which our government has generally treated common carriers. The telephone company, for example, isn't responsible for anything said and done on the phone lines."
The legislation, if passed, will label as terrorists those satellite providers that "knowingly and willingly contract with entities designated as specially designated global terrorists" under U.S. law. The administration will have to administer an annual report that includes research on the content of such broadcasts. Read more ...
The bill, authored by Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., and Rep. Joseph Crowley, D-N.Y., seeks to punish satellite companies that carry channels that are mouthpieces for known terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas -- stations they say incite their audiences to commit acts of terrorism against the United States.
But some free speech advocates question the constitutionality and consequences of the legislation, arguing that such modes of communication are a useful tool in monitoring terrorist movements.
"The constitutionality of such a statute is uphill," said Harvey Silverglate, a civil liberties attorney with the Boston-based law firm Zalkind Rodriguez Lunt & Duncan LLP.
"It runs against the grain of the way in which our government has generally treated common carriers. The telephone company, for example, isn't responsible for anything said and done on the phone lines."
The legislation, if passed, will label as terrorists those satellite providers that "knowingly and willingly contract with entities designated as specially designated global terrorists" under U.S. law. The administration will have to administer an annual report that includes research on the content of such broadcasts. Read more ...
Source: Fox News
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