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Not at all. I'm not calling for the government to arrest white supremacists just for spouting their garbage. However, I am stating my support for Twitter and ev
by s73ver 10y ago
Not at all. I'm not calling for the government to arrest white supremacists just for spouting their garbage. However, I am stating my support for Twitter and everyone else to be able to exercise their free speech rights to not associate with them.
- duncan_bayne 10y agoSorry, I must have misread your post. I thought you were lumping "garbage speech" in with threats of violence, which are illegal. Yes, it's Twitter's platform, and so entirely their choice whose speech happens there.
- the8472 10y agoBut doesn't that mean twitter isn't a platform for free speech, since only twitter-approved speech gets through, and therefore can't defend free speech rights of its users since they do not exercise such speech on twitter?
- s73ver 10y agoNo. Because there is a world of difference between speech and harassment. Not to mention, Twitter is a business. Their business depends on having users. If too many of their users leave the platform because they are constantly being assaulted by white supremacist drivel or being harassed by other users, then they're in trouble (kinda like they are now)
- duncan_bayne 10y agoI'm still uncomfortable with the use of terms like 'assault' for protected speech, because I've seen people use equivocation between speech and assault to shut down free speech. Meta: I'm _so_ twitchy about this stuff. I'm sorry if that's lead me to read your posts less charitably than I should :(
- dpark 10y agoOf course not. Twitter also has a right to free speech and can exercise that by telling whoever they want to leave their platform.
- duncan_bayne 10y agoStrictly speaking, that's them exercising their property rights, not their free speech rights.
- dpark 10y agoI'd say it's both.
- duncan_bayne 10y agoWell yes - they're free to tell them to leave (speech), and free to compel them (property). Interestingly some theorists consider freedom of speech a special case of property rights.
- dpark 10y agoIn the case of a platform like Twitter, blocking certain types of speech is also a meaningful expression in itself. Telling someone to leave is a form of speech in itself. But telling (for example) many environmentalists to leave would also express a view on environmentalism because of the effect it would have on the overall conversion. Shaping the discourse on the platform is similar to a media outlet shaping the discourse it drives with selective reporting.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]