4 ms·

> But what you say online has to be sacrosanct. If you really want to protect the world from bad conspiracy theories then write a crash course in developing cri

> But what you say online has to be sacrosanct. If you really want to protect the world from bad conspiracy theories then write a crash course in developing critical thinking skills, and give that away far and wide I find political discussions intensely boring but it just feels crazy to me that removing peoples' ability to _say idiotic things online_ is generally considered acceptable by the mainstream these days. Whatever happened to, "I do not agree with what you say but I will defend with my life your right to say it?"

greglindahl 7y ago
It collided with "If your website's full of assholes, it's your fault." I'm happy to defend your right to say stupid things from the top of a soapbox in the public square. I'm not happy to stop business owners from ejecting assholes from their website. The web lacks a public square. If you'd like to build one, go right ahead.
ravenstine 7y ago
And it's a popular idea in places like HN, too. If you are radical and not in a way that is sanctioned by the MSM, you're guilty of associating with Nazis and "conspiracy theorists" by mere virtue of being deplatformed like they have been.
DanBC 7y ago
> Whatever happened to, "I do not agree with what you say but I will defend with my life your right to say it?" People started blowing up churches and synagogues, and reasonable people decided they'd rather support the people being killed than the people doing the killing.
tobylane 7y ago
What happened was people knowingly sharing far from mainstream views demanded that they were defended/protected from the government (per the first amendment) and privately owned online platforms (not covered) equally. I wish for everyone to be accurate and treat these situations differently. Censorship hardly ever happens because it ends in a first amendment court case. Deplatforming happens all the time because the law permits it.

greglindahl 7y ago

It collided with "If your website's full of assholes, it's your fault." I'm happy to defend your right to say stupid things from the top of a soapbox in the public square. I'm not happy to stop business owners from ejecting assholes from their website. The web lacks a public square. If you'd like to build one, go right ahead.

ravenstine 7y ago

And it's a popular idea in places like HN, too. If you are radical and not in a way that is sanctioned by the MSM, you're guilty of associating with Nazis and "conspiracy theorists" by mere virtue of being deplatformed like they have been.

DanBC 7y ago

> Whatever happened to, "I do not agree with what you say but I will defend with my life your right to say it?" People started blowing up churches and synagogues, and reasonable people decided they'd rather support the people being killed than the people doing the killing.

tobylane 7y ago

What happened was people knowingly sharing far from mainstream views demanded that they were defended/protected from the government (per the first amendment) and privately owned online platforms (not covered) equally. I wish for everyone to be accurate and treat these situations differently. Censorship hardly ever happens because it ends in a first amendment court case. Deplatforming happens all the time because the law permits it.