Boing Boing Misinterprets Freedom of Speech

In this Boing Boing post, they go postal on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC's) decision to require employees to get permission to blog if they identify themselves on their blogs as CBC employees. To Boing Boing, this is the epitome of infringement on free speech.

To anyone who understands free speech, however, this is basically saying, "If you want to remain an employee of CBC, then you'll either blog without mentioning that you're a CBC employee (thus avoiding any chance that your opinions will be taken as ours), or you'll get permission first."

Every CBC employee has a right to blog. They just don't have a right to a job at the CBC. The CBC can't stop someone from blogging, the most they can do is stop someone from working at the CBC. Only government could actually, physically stop someone from blogging, and that's what freedom of speech is all about.