Most of you have probably heard by now that anti-vaccine activist Jenny McCarthy has been picked to be a host on ABC's
The View. Following the announcement, there was a media uproar lambasting the decision. Newspapers, magazines and blogs erupted with posts questioning the wisdom of giving her a platform with millions of viewers from which she could spew her vaccine-related misinformation and fear-mongering. Some took the angle that she
should get a large platform so that more people can see just how ridiculous are her views on vaccinations. Toronto Public Health even went so far as to
tweet, urging people to contact
The View and ask them to get rid of her:
They aren't the only ones, either. Before the hiring was officially announced, Phil Plait over at
Bad Astronomy urged people to write to the producers, as did
Just the Vax. There is even a
Change.org petition to remove her from the show.
It isn't much of a surprise, then, that her supporters among the anti-vaccine community are all up in arms, crying "Censorship!" and lamenting about the infringement on McCarthy's First Amendment right to free speech. I didn't comment on this whole thing when the story first broke, because, well, everyone else had already said everything. But I would like to touch on that whole free speech issue a bit.
