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>The ability to close yourself off in a bubble where you can't be reached by opposing viewpoints is relinquishing your duties as a democratic citizen. This is
by minikites 6y ago
>The ability to close yourself off in a bubble where you can't be reached by opposing viewpoints is relinquishing your duties as a democratic citizen.
This is only true if each side has a valid and reasonable difference of opinion. This is not true for hate speech and other propaganda. For example, it's not an "opposing viewpoint" to say that people with dark skin are subhuman.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_(book)
- crazygringo 6y agoYes, which is why many European countries have laws against hate speech, although the US doesn't. But political advertising doesn't equal hate speech. Many people currently support the idea of Facebook and Twitter prohibiting hate speech, political or not. That has nothing to do with being able to turn off political speech in general. It's a totally separate issue. As for propaganda, that's in the eye of the beholder. Which is why we generally frown on censorship, because one person's propaganda is another person's deeply felt, legitimate political viewpoint.
- minikites 6y ago>But political advertising doesn't equal hate speech. It often does: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy#Evolution_(1970s_and_1980s) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy#Evolution_(1... >another person's deeply felt, legitimate political viewpoint I don't think "people with dark skin are subhuman" should be treated as a legitimate political viewpoint.
- crazygringo 6y agoBoth of your examples are hate speech. You can ban hate speech and leave political advertising unbanned. Obviously any political advertising that is also hate speech remains banned.
- at_a_remove 6y agoWould you apply this "hate speech" label to Yakub and such such ideas? I need to know how seriously to take you.
- minikites 6y agoHow much political power does the Nation of Islam have? How many members of congress identify as members of the Nation of Islam? Wikipedia says they have 20,000–50,000 members total. You're not making a meaningful or valid comparison by comparing the beliefs of <50,000 people to the the incredible power of structured prejudice in the USA.
- at_a_remove 6y agoAh, so your hate speech label is one of those "depends on whom it is against" thing. Yeah. That's why I never take that kind of thing seriously.
- minikites 6y agoSo you think a kid calling an adult a "doo doo head" is the same as an adult verbally abusing a kid? Power matters more than any other factor.
- at_a_remove 6y agoThis is less about speech, then, or someone being called subhuman, as was your example, but more about who gets to say what to whom. That always seems to be the agenda behind these things.