I know almost nothing about the two speakers booked-for-but-now-banned-from the Powerstation in Auckland. What I do know is that a lot of people are angry about them, their message (whatever it is), and the prospect of them having a platform to share it.
All this anger actually piques my curiosity. It makes me want to find them on YouTube and learn what they are about. It doesn’t make me want to ignore them. I wonder if the angry protesters realize this?
Agree with them or not, if you resist them with too violent of language (or venue-cancelling maneuvering?) you will make a victim out of them and effectively help create a platform for them.
Another thought is this. My Dad always told me that in an argument, the one getting angry usually has the weaker position. If these banned speakers have such bad ideas, shouldn’t it be easy to calmly (and succinctly) show where their logic goes astray? The anger just makes you look defensive.