Final Word from Tuesday, January 3, 2017

"You have the right to free speech," sang the Clash back in 1982, "as long as you're not dumb enough to actually try it." A decade later, the Czech Bill of Rights said basically the same thing. "Censorship is not permissible," it said, and then it proceeded to say when it is in fact permissible. Eva Romancovová of the new Center against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats echoed this yesterday on Czech Radio, saying that "Censorship is ruled out by the Bill of Rights and is allowed by law only in certain given circumstances." This will be the mindset at the Center. The trick will be to censor without censoring, to use hybrid methods to combat hybrid threats. "Ensuring free and fair elections is a basic aim," a senior official told The Guardian, and a new section of the interior ministry's website will be devoted to communicating the government viewpoint. If nothing else, Czechs will at least get a one-stop website where they can go to learn what they're supposed to think. [Czech Republic Milan Chovanec ČSSD]