“Freedom of speech is not really freedom just to say and do anything. It has to be responsible, and you have to use your freedoms in a responsible way. Not to mislead people. Not to seek to destroy persons… I will continue to be a champion for that”.
Those were sentiments shared by Premier Dr the Honourable Natalio Wheatley as he fielded questions from members of the public surrounding a recent news article which alleged that he was made to sleep on the floor of an airport after failing to acquire accommodation when his flight was delayed in Antigua and Barbuda.
Wheatley, by word of mouth and Government press release, has since refuted the claims made in the article and provided his account of the events.
Beyond that, he said that he did not wish to give much energy to the article.
“The story was inaccurate and misleading… I don’t want to give too much attention to that… In my view a distraction, and I don’t think it’s something that we should give too much power to, entertain or focus on”, Wheatley said during an interview on Tola Radio.
He went on to stress that there are more important things to discuss in the country than what he considered to be “nonsense like that.”
One caller pressed the Premier on the need to hold individuals and entities accountable for spreading misleading information and making unsubstantiated allegations.
A course of action which the Premier agreed needs to be explored.
“Let me just say to you caller I agree with you. I think that you have to have a responsible means of sharing information in the media space, and I think that we have to find ways, legally and otherwise, to make sure that we are responsibly spreading information”.