The Latest EU Lunacy

According to a proposed regulation from the Council of Europe, web sites—even personal weblogs (they crossed out the restriction to “professional” media)—must allow anybody criticized on that site to reply. I don't have much to say about it that hasn't already been said on Samizdata and Little Green Footballs, but I noticed an odd phenonmenon in the discussion on Slashdot.

After looking at the Slashdot thread, I think I figured out the basis of the regulation: Media are regarded as natural phenomena, not as the creations of individuals. Someone who wants to reply can't reply unless he/she/whatever can magically get hold of one of those media. This also means the right of reply won't shut down any of the media any more than it would shut down a mountain.

This also explains the bizarre fixation on Fox and talk radio common on the left. If Fox et al. print something right-wing, that must exclude the left. They don't believe it's easy to devise alternatives. They especially don't believe Fox started as an alternative to liberal media.