2 ms·
Well think about the pre internet days, how did people exercise their free speech? On a soapbox on the corner? Well maybe, but again you might need a city/cou
by will_brown 9y ago
Well think about the pre internet days, how did people exercise their free speech? On a soapbox on the corner? Well maybe, but again you might need a city/county permit depending on the corner, that costs money. Maybe for people outside of yelling distance you need a megaphone, that costs money. To not get arrested for indecency you need clothes, that costs money, or for anyone to take you/your message serious you probably need nice clothes, those cost more money.
Want to print and distribute your protected speech, the printing press cost money.
I'd say a domain/hosting/web builder can be done cheaper than the printing press and certainly cheaper than getting a city permit. The actual knowledge involved? About 5-10 minutes of YouTube videos. Your right many of the services you might leverage have terms, the real world is not without similar terms.
Certainly today it is far cheaper and easier to set up a website for your message than anytime in the internets history. I think free speech like any other right dies through ignorance, lack of historical understanding and just lack of strength of character. To that end anyone can contractually limit their rights as you suggest but it's always been that way, it's not as though the internet was ever free of these terms in the beginning. Don't like the terms, then organize/boycott, take action, and I'm not pretending it's easy to take action against a company like Google, but think it wasn't hard to exercise free speech and fight for civil rights in the face of police, military, fire hoses, etc... It's not the US but think it was easy for Gandhi to be arrested and go on food strikes all those times, or Nelson Mandela to spend the greater part of his life in prison and later become the first Black South African President, or Ali to refuse the draft before the Vietnam war lost public support and giving up his championship (prime of his boxing career) fighting in the courts facing jail?
Pick and choose your causes as you wish, that's your right, but using other people private property whether it be real property or an online website that's where your rights end. But be willing to back up your ideals like the great heros above and host nazi parties at your house, let them burn crosses in your yard, but keep in mind your also advocating for everyone else including anti nazis to have the same rights to use your property in the same manner.