Freedom of Speech taking a blow?

So just read this article http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/26/youtube_take_down_requests_country_differences/ (by the way the register is a seriously good news website)

Seems the UK government has decided to try and get 135 Youtube videos taken off the website, along with the German and US governments asking for some of their own.
I can kind of understand the need for it, the UK gov trying to lower any influence Islamic ‘terrorist’ may have on impressionable people in the country. But seriously? When has it EVER worked in history, ignoring people who spout anger and hate. They get worse, it’s guaranteed isn’t it? Ok so the issue has been rising for a while now, bombings, speeches etc have put people on edge. But can you really agree that by banning them from speaking will stop people from hearing them. If anything by doing this you’re giving them more publicity, getting their message to more people. We’re in the age of communication, and that is what we’ve got damn good at, banned or not.
What everyone seems to forget is that these people are extremists, and yes they can have an adverse affect on the minds of people who are easily swayed into hate. Sadly a lot of humanity don’t have the strength or insight to stand against things like this, its always easier to follow when you feel lost. BUT by telling people you can’t listen to them you’re only improving the power behind their words.
The Germans are trying to push out the roots of Nazism in their country, and fair play to them, it’s an awful way of thinking that really makes me a little sad that in our own social evolution we haven’t moved passed such small minded systems. But again by banning these people all you do is give them strength and increase the resilience in their arguments.
Saying this, the US’s own plight doesn’t really fit the same ideals. They are literally stopping people from seeing the truth behind a national organisation created to SERVE and PROTECT. Sounds like the police over there are doing a great job of it if their own government has to intervene to stop the outside world from seeing the brutality that some of these men and women seem to feel they have a right to inflict on other people.
Personally I feel this all comes down to power. Things are changing, governments have lived separately from their people for so long they now fear the thoughts that go through our heads. They no longer know who we are since they have no experience of how we live and the same seems to go for a few places around the world. Maybe if they took a step back to try and understand the PEOPLE behind this kind of thinking, they would be able to understand how they come to that conclusion and therefore how they can counteract the negative thoughts coming from their countries.
Sadly though, I doubt the people in power around the world would ever turn to such routes right now. It would man conceding the fact that they no longer know their people, and therefore would cause a serious doubt in their own ability to govern. Then again maybe we should doubt the abilities of our leaders. How many of you can honestly say that you believe in the men and women in charge? How many of you believe that they actually understand the plights of everyday life, and haven’t just had themselves rise above the ‘trivialities’ of life for the common folk.
For supposedly good reasons, the voices of real men and women out there are being silenced. We may not agree, we may see the folly in the things they say, but don’t we as a people have a right to make that choice ourselves? Is that not what freedom of speech and democracy is about? Maybe more trust should be put in the citizens of the countries around the world, trust that we are not ignorant fools who will jump at any chance to have a shout, reasoned or not. We are people just like them, and if anything we desrve more of a say in these things than them, because it is US who will see the true issues rising from a direct perspective. Can those in power, in the system we live in right now, ever truly see that or ever truly understand why it comes to this? Decision like these are not the right of the government, they are the right of the people.
They say ignorance an hate are defining factors, can’t the same be said for the man who silences another for no other reason than he believes it is bad for those he is charged to rule. Belief in something does not justify acts of ignorance and oppression, and that single fact stays true for both side of this argument. Open your eyes, see the problems before you, learn about why they happen and talk to the people who experience them first hand. Only then can your opinion and the actions you take truly reflect the issue at hand.