"Argument from metaphor" is a logical fallacy. Even if what you say about trees and fruit is true, it doesn't prove anything about people and words, because peo

"Argument from metaphor" is a logical fallacy. Even if what you say about trees and fruit is true, it doesn't prove anything about people and words, because people aren't trees and words aren't fruit. People who say bad things aren't poisonous fruit trees. A poisonous fruit tree always produces the same fruit because genetics, but people can and do change their minds and say different things over time. And when you say you want to "cut down one big tree and replace it by several, smaller trees" I'm going to assume you aren't suggesting we start killing people, but I really don't know what you are suggesting. > There's not just one free speech system (i.e. people can have free speech in a society that allows megaphones, and in one that doesn't, but the results may be better or worse because of the difference), and I think it's a mistake to assume the costs of one system are the costs of "free speech." It's true that there's more than one free speech system, but let's be clear: any system which determines what people are allowed to say, or who is allowed to speak based on what they say, isn't a free speech system. The core problem is that if you start determining what people are allowed to say and what people aren't allowed to say, you have to put someone in charge of enforcing that. In the context of social media censorship, that's literally a proposal that we put amoral corporations in charge of what people are and aren't allowed to say. I don't trust Facebook with that power; I don't trust anyone with that power. In forums that I moderated back in the day, I didn't trust myself with that power. For example, let's talk about racist speech. I think we both agree that we don't want people to say racist things. But which of the following are racist statements? And how would you moderate them? 1. The Black Panthers are a militant black liberation group. 2. The New Black Panthers are a militant black liberation group. 3. Affirmative action is discriminatory. 4. Black people are more likely to be convicted of crimes. And more importantly, who would you trust to make the right choices in whether to censor these statements?