Haaretz : Don't use a tragic suicide to blunt Israel's press freedom

Don't use a tragic suicide to blunt Israel's press freedom

The suicide of an immigration official shamed on Facebook for alleged racism must not be used to advance legislation that would stifle criticism of government policy.

HAARETZ.COM|Di Haaretz Editorial

From the moment the current government was formed, the prime minister has been acting consistently to limit the free press.
Minister Yariv Levin represented Benjamin Netanyahu, who also serves as communications minister, in the Knesset debate following the suicide of Ariel Runis, a senior official of the Population, Immigration and Border Authority. Levin announced that the Defamation Law must be amended to limit the “freedom of vituperation” and to prevent an incident like Runis’ from recurring.
“The Defamation Law requires fundamental changes, but every time an attempt is made to advance this, it is portrayed as an attempt to curb the media,” Levin said. “Regrettably, we have complete freedom of vituperation here.”
“We must draw a line and give people the means to protect their reputation. I truly hope the populism around the issue will not continue. …The issue requires courage not to follow blindly the populist stance that [any legislation move] will infringe on the freedom of expression,” he said.
Referring to Runis’ suicide, which followed a Facebook shaming campaign, Levin said, “This happened because of a social media post, but it could have happened from something in the newspapers as well.”
Indeed, there are many troubling cases of offensive, violent and racist public discourse in Israel. This was especially blatant during the war in Gaza last summer. The prime minister responded to that incitement with feeble words and nothing else. In contrast, on Election Day, Netanyahu himself took part in such incitement, in his statements about Israel’s Arabs. Nobody suggested legislation to restrict offensive statements then.
“Naming and shaming” is an important means of expression, especially among the relatively powerless in society. It could be dangerous, but must be controlled by requiring companies that operate social networks to provide users with ways of reporting hurtful comments and stopping them. Silencing by means of libel suit will only diminish the little freedom of expression that remains for Israel’s commoners.
Shaming in its current form is mainly a social network trend. The link Levin made between it and the media is contrived and creates the worrying impression that he exploited Runis’ private tragedy to advance legislation intended to silence criticism of the government.