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You're missing the outsized effect of mass-coordination allowing for thousands of people to harangue someone else on the Internet. Additionally, (A) isn't reall

You're missing the outsized effect of mass-coordination allowing for thousands of people to harangue someone else on the Internet. Additionally, (A) isn't really an option in the interconnected world where (1) if you want to do business, you're probably doing it online to some extent and (2) trolls will now step up their 'game' to target people physically (in ways that are still asymmetric and hard for real-life law enforcement to interdict). I don't have a good solution for this, other than to observe that there are some kinds of free expression that even Americans draw some solid lines against; when a civil demonstration becomes a riot, the police come to break it up (and, yes, the question of whether something is 'a civil demonstration' or 'riot' is one that can be debated ad nauseum by participants and observers; the presence of legal authority to break up a riot is what is undisputed).

beeboop 11y ago
I am a web developer, my entire livelihood would not exist if not for the internet, and it would be effortless for me to avoid anything online that is offensive to me, even if the entire country knew my name and wanted me dead. I am not sure you have a valid argument unless your business involves tremendous social media presence that only you personally can manage, which is both unlikely and still surmountable (just post stuff, don't read what others reply). Your second point is a bit of a slippery slope. Yeah, you'll have people trying to SWAT you, but that's more an issue with our legal system than it is with bullying on the internet. The instances of someone, even on a national level of negative publicity, getting actual real world physical violence against them, is incredibly rare. Your comparison to a riot doesn't really hold up. Riots are bad because they cause property damage, interfere with the normal functioning of a city, and get people physically hurt or killed. A fat acceptance advocate getting called names on Twitter hurts his/her feelings, which doesn't in my opinion justify having laws created to protect his/her feelings.

beeboop 11y ago

I am a web developer, my entire livelihood would not exist if not for the internet, and it would be effortless for me to avoid anything online that is offensive to me, even if the entire country knew my name and wanted me dead. I am not sure you have a valid argument unless your business involves tremendous social media presence that only you personally can manage, which is both unlikely and still surmountable (just post stuff, don't read what others reply). Your second point is a bit of a slippery slope. Yeah, you'll have people trying to SWAT you, but that's more an issue with our legal system than it is with bullying on the internet. The instances of someone, even on a national level of negative publicity, getting actual real world physical violence against them, is incredibly rare. Your comparison to a riot doesn't really hold up. Riots are bad because they cause property damage, interfere with the normal functioning of a city, and get people physically hurt or killed. A fat acceptance advocate getting called names on Twitter hurts his/her feelings, which doesn't in my opinion justify having laws created to protect his/her feelings.