• czech@kbin.social
    2·
    1 year ago

    The principle of free speech, in America, has nothing to do with forcing people to tolerate hateful rhetoric. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech_in_the_United_States.

    In the United States, freedom of speech and expression is strongly protected from government restrictions by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, many state constitutions, and state and federal laws. Freedom of speech, also called free speech, means the free and public expression of opinions without censorship, interference and restraint by the government.

    As long as the government isn’t arresting you for your opinions then nothing going on here has to do with “free speech”. Individuals and corporations silencing you online is not a “disgrace to the principle of free speech”.

      • czech@kbin.social
        2·
        1 year ago

        You’re talking about a “free speech” that only exists in /r/conservative echo chambers. You are free to say what you want but you are not free from the consequences. We do not have to listen. And it’s not a “disgrace” that nobody cares to hear what you have to say.

          • czech@kbin.social
            1·
            1 year ago

            Up until a few years ago, it was widely held by people of all political persuasions

            <citation required>. You can’t just make shit up.This is only exists in your echo chambers.

              • czech@kbin.social
                2·
                1 year ago

                So you made it up? You can’t state things as fact based on your personal observations from your echo chamber.

                It’s indisputably true in my personal, anecdotal, life experience

                I could have guessed that. Your perspective seems very insular.

                  • czech@kbin.social
                    1·
                    1 year ago

                    Right, no sources, just your personal experience. The hallmark of the “American conservative”. Facts be damned.

      • danhakimi@kbin.social
        1·
        1 year ago

        the principles of free speech do not guarantee you a platform upon which to spread hatred. They do not give you the right to force others to serve your positions over the internet.

        there might be something to be said about “platform neutrality,” but it’s still a competition of rights that doesn’t really justify forcing a platform—especially a small platform like kbin—to host content it views as extremist, or especially likely to result in violence. Maybe you can argue that we should have higher scrutiny in the case of a monopoly or similar large social network due to the power of strong network effects, but… I don’t know how much scrutiny would you need to apply to say “aha, this company is banning terfs for insidious reasons!” no, they’re obviously banning terfs because their bigotry is dangerous and hurtful and giving them a platform just feels incredibly shitty.

        A while back, I thought—well, I still do think—that platform neutrality should be used to frame the issue of large social media sites that ban talk about their competitors, like when Twitter deprioritized Substack (facebook messenger has banned competitors as well). I’d also argue this principle could be used to ban, for example, Facebook from manipulating its algorithm overtly (expliciltly, specifically) to favor a particular political party or an advertiser (outside of the ad itself—that one is already illegal, ads need to be disclosed as ads). But applying such a rule to general political standards and where you think the norm or neutral position should be is dangerous and stupid.