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The problem of unqualified freedom of speech is that it amounts to freedom to lie without consequence for those that have power. And once you can lie with impun
by jgeada 7y ago
The problem of unqualified freedom of speech is that it amounts to freedom to lie without consequence for those that have power. And once you can lie with impunity, you have a mechanism to consolidate that power, either by disrupting those hostile to you (fake news, astroturfing, etc) or by providing support to those that support your goals.
- giggles_giggles 7y agoThe problem with restricting speech to only "true" speech is that then the truth is defined by those in power and those who disagree may not speak.
- mc32 7y agoYou’re kind of right, but not quite. When the bolsheviks took power the first thing they did was seize the means of communication in order to control speech. They became the only authorized voice to speak. So it’s not freedom of speech but control of speech by a single entity that establishes “narrative” that is the problem.
- kazagistar 7y agoSo maybe whats important is striving for an greater equality of power to speak? Power is both politics and money, and if you have enough of it, you can control the narrative and cause problems.
- 12xo 7y agoThis isnt "free speech", this is unfettered capitalism and greed. Free speech is about the Govt limiting what you can and cannot say. This is about how you can pay to manipulate the truth by leveraging a false sense of trust inherent in media. More akin to "Truth in Advertising" than free speech. People should not be allowed to misrepresent themselves or the facts without some blowback, either criminally (fraud) or civil (libel). [Digital] advertising is responsible for destroying trust.
- specialist 7y agoIMHO The core problem is unsourced quotes. Just like HTTP vs HTTPS. Everyone can still say whatever they want. But any unsigned (unclaimed) statement is just gossip.
- Jamwinner 7y agoFreedom is indeed freedom to lie, bit it is also freedom to tell inconvenient truths. The two seem to balance quite well.