Earlier this year, we had a podcast with Jacob Mchangama about his excellent book, Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media, and I pointed out one theme that is seen throughout the book. Over and over again, vocal supporters of free speech eventually seem to change their position when they realize people say things they don’t want to hear. It often leads to some seriously shifted rationales. The latest in this theme is Simon Jenkins, longtime UK journalist and currently a columnist for The Guardian in the UK, who has penned a truly bizarre column basically embracing ditching free speech online because Salman Rushdie got stabbed.

UK Columnist: Because Salman Rushdie Got Stabbed, We Should Regulate Online Speech, Get Rid Of Anonymity, And Hold Social Media Responsible