5 ms·

And yet we were okay with sharply curtailing freedom of association in some areas. Twitter (or a landlord) would be in legal trouble if it tried to ban black pe

And yet we were okay with sharply curtailing freedom of association in some areas. Twitter (or a landlord) would be in legal trouble if it tried to ban black people. Edit: To the replies pointing out the protected class distinction: I'm well aware of it (as my example shows). What I am highlighting is that "freedom of association" isn't as absolute as the parent post implies, and that in the past the law was changed and that freedom was diminished when it allowed behavior we didn't like.

riffic 6y ago
I'm sorry, I didn't know that being a racist was a protected class now.
- _red 6y ago
  Saying blacks deserve to be a protected class is pretty racist you know.....
  - true_religion 6y ago
    All races are a protected class. You can’t discriminate against white Europeans either. In fact, if you were to start a group that wanted to destroy white Europeans (like how the Klan wants to destroy non whites, Catholics, Mormons, Jews, and sanity itself) then you would quickly find yourself ostracized. I would bet an anti white group would quickly find itself branded as a terrorist organization in the US.
CptFribble 6y ago
There is a marked difference between race and opinion. You can't change the color of your skin, but you can change your opinions or keep them to yourself if you wish. Anti-Semites are not a protected class. Political opinion is not protected in private space. The policies of these private platforms are clear and available for anyone to read, and include a ban on racist speech. If you want to stay on the platform, follow the rules. You have no control over what color you were born, and you can't change it. That's why race is a protected class and opinions are not. Free speech only protects us from the government, not from private consequences.
happytoexplain 6y ago
I assume your implication is that Twitter is banning conservatives, as opposed to the other interpretation, which is that conservatives, regardless of what forces are to blame, have a higher ratio of participants who are worthy of being banned from a non-political point of view (e.g. actual racism, higher desire for violence, etc). Reality might be somewhere in between, but it seems obvious to me that it is very close to the latter.

riffic 6y ago

I'm sorry, I didn't know that being a racist was a protected class now.

_red 6y ago
Saying blacks deserve to be a protected class is pretty racist you know.....
- true_religion 6y ago
  All races are a protected class. You can’t discriminate against white Europeans either. In fact, if you were to start a group that wanted to destroy white Europeans (like how the Klan wants to destroy non whites, Catholics, Mormons, Jews, and sanity itself) then you would quickly find yourself ostracized. I would bet an anti white group would quickly find itself branded as a terrorist organization in the US.

CptFribble 6y ago

There is a marked difference between race and opinion. You can't change the color of your skin, but you can change your opinions or keep them to yourself if you wish. Anti-Semites are not a protected class. Political opinion is not protected in private space. The policies of these private platforms are clear and available for anyone to read, and include a ban on racist speech. If you want to stay on the platform, follow the rules. You have no control over what color you were born, and you can't change it. That's why race is a protected class and opinions are not. Free speech only protects us from the government, not from private consequences.

happytoexplain 6y ago

I assume your implication is that Twitter is banning conservatives, as opposed to the other interpretation, which is that conservatives, regardless of what forces are to blame, have a higher ratio of participants who are worthy of being banned from a non-political point of view (e.g. actual racism, higher desire for violence, etc). Reality might be somewhere in between, but it seems obvious to me that it is very close to the latter.