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Is there something seriously wrong with that? The whole argument people here are trying to make is how quickly freedom of speech can erode. In that context, it

Is there something seriously wrong with that? The whole argument people here are trying to make is how quickly freedom of speech can erode. In that context, it is absolutely apples to apples when you compare freedom of speech in US, France, Germany, China, wherever.

arnaud12 9y ago
As a French person, the American view of "everything else than absolute free speech is not free speech" annoys me. Our view on that subject is different and I don't feel like living in China.
- liberte82 9y ago
  Not to mention that the American view of free speech also is not absolute. They just define theirs as the "most free". It's just hypocrisy.
- maeln 9y ago
  I am also French and I was not comparing France and China. I was just presenting fact: In France (and in other European country as well), we also censor content. Now, obviously France and US have a different idea of what is free-speech and both view have advantages and disadvantages, I am not going to argue about this. But, at least for speech, we know what is allowed and what is not allowed to be said. But when in come to internet censorship, the minister of interior affair is almost a unregulated black-box. As far as I remember, their was still the control of a judge , but their was no obligation to publicly have a list of banned website and the reason for their ban. Plus, all the government have been weakening the frontier between the executive and the juridical system for decades now, so the independence of judges regarding theses issues as been really weakened. If that doesn't scare you enough, you can read some articles by Yve Sintomaire[0] which explain why France is one of the European country with the least defense against a derive to authoritarianism. [0] http://civic-forum.eu/espace-public/yves-sintomer-la-france-peut-evoluer-vers-un-regime-autoritaire http://civic-forum.eu/espace-public/yves-sintomer-la-france-...

arnaud12 9y ago

As a French person, the American view of "everything else than absolute free speech is not free speech" annoys me. Our view on that subject is different and I don't feel like living in China.

liberte82 9y ago
Not to mention that the American view of free speech also is not absolute. They just define theirs as the "most free". It's just hypocrisy.
maeln 9y ago
I am also French and I was not comparing France and China. I was just presenting fact: In France (and in other European country as well), we also censor content. Now, obviously France and US have a different idea of what is free-speech and both view have advantages and disadvantages, I am not going to argue about this. But, at least for speech, we know what is allowed and what is not allowed to be said. But when in come to internet censorship, the minister of interior affair is almost a unregulated black-box. As far as I remember, their was still the control of a judge , but their was no obligation to publicly have a list of banned website and the reason for their ban. Plus, all the government have been weakening the frontier between the executive and the juridical system for decades now, so the independence of judges regarding theses issues as been really weakened. If that doesn't scare you enough, you can read some articles by Yve Sintomaire[0] which explain why France is one of the European country with the least defense against a derive to authoritarianism. [0] http://civic-forum.eu/espace-public/yves-sintomer-la-france-peut-evoluer-vers-un-regime-autoritaire http://civic-forum.eu/espace-public/yves-sintomer-la-france-...