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> No this isn't false equivalence, either all speech is free or no speech is free. To quote another thread: We already ban some kinds of speech, and I've neve
by actsasbuffoon 9y ago
> No this isn't false equivalence, either all speech is free or no speech is free.
To quote another thread:
We already ban some kinds of speech, and I've never heard anyone complain about it. For instance, you can't stand on a street corner and try to recruit people to join ISIS. You can't threaten to hurt or kill someone. You can't show pornography to minors, or show anyone pornography that contains minors.
These are all very popular restrictions on free speech.
- jazzyk 9y agoYou are conflating action with speech. Showing pornography to minors is an act, not a statement of opinion.
- actsasbuffoon 9y agoI’m stretching the definition a little in that case, but I don’t think it’s an untenable stretch. Speech is the act of expressing a thought. Art expresses thoughts as well. A movie, or a painting, or a book also expresses thoughts, which indicates a kind of kinship with speech. And yet there are movies and books and paintings we probably shouldn’t share with certain people, certain thoughts which should not be expressed to the young. Americans are mostly in agreement with this curtailment of freedom of expression/speech. As I said, I admit that I’m stretching the definition of speech a little with that example, but I think you’ll agree that the boundary between speech and action can be somewhat blurry at times.