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This is San Francisco State University and New York University being censored. Would you also have zoom suppress a SFSU lecture discussing Mein Kampf? -- a boo

by nullc 6y ago

This is San Francisco State University and New York University being censored. Would you also have zoom suppress a SFSU lecture discussing Mein Kampf? -- a book by a genocidal maniac? I think these events are making a good case that schools (and especially universities-- where people are expected to be able to engage with controversial or wrong-headed ideas) should not be using zoom.

ars 6y ago
> Would you also have zoom suppress a SFSU lecture discussing Mein Kampf? If the speaker agreed with Mein Kampf, and was promoting it, I'd have a very hard time criticizing zoom over it. Free speech is important, but this speaker can find her own tools to promote her terroristic ideas, zoom has no obligation to help her. > are expected to be able to engage with controversial or wrong-headed ideas That's a very charitable interpretation. And if in fact this was a forum to discuss ideas, with pro's and con's, I might agree. But this is simply giving a platform to a terrorist, there is no intellectual discussion going on here. The way you wrote "discussing Mein Kampf", you are implying they would actually be discussing it. But that's not what's going on here. It's kind of like a reverse strawman - you changed the event into a much less controversial one, and then told people they should criticize zoom for blocking it. But zoom didn't block your strawman, they blocked an actual terrorist.
- nullc 6y ago
  I don't know anything about the event but what was obvious in a glance at the parent article. How many orginizations should get a veto over events run by universities? Wouldn't you prefer to not run events using tools that have vetoed your decisions on appropriate materials and can be expected to do so in the future?
  - srtjstjsj 6y ago
    The US government gets a veto over the acts of its foreign military enemies. I don't see this as a Zoom issue. Have any other US-operating companies hosted this person?
    - nullc 6y ago
      If this were an action by the US government it would end up in court on first amendment grounds extremely quickly.
ineedasername 6y ago
No, it was the speaker being blocked. If it was merely a lecture on the topic of this person, their organization & actions, then I would share your belief that it was censorship rather than an acceptable limit on Free Speech.

by nullc 6y ago

ars 6y ago

> Would you also have zoom suppress a SFSU lecture discussing Mein Kampf? If the speaker agreed with Mein Kampf, and was promoting it, I'd have a very hard time criticizing zoom over it. Free speech is important, but this speaker can find her own tools to promote her terroristic ideas, zoom has no obligation to help her. > are expected to be able to engage with controversial or wrong-headed ideas That's a very charitable interpretation. And if in fact this was a forum to discuss ideas, with pro's and con's, I might agree. But this is simply giving a platform to a terrorist, there is no intellectual discussion going on here. The way you wrote "discussing Mein Kampf", you are implying they would actually be discussing it. But that's not what's going on here. It's kind of like a reverse strawman - you changed the event into a much less controversial one, and then told people they should criticize zoom for blocking it. But zoom didn't block your strawman, they blocked an actual terrorist.

nullc 6y ago
I don't know anything about the event but what was obvious in a glance at the parent article. How many orginizations should get a veto over events run by universities? Wouldn't you prefer to not run events using tools that have vetoed your decisions on appropriate materials and can be expected to do so in the future?
- srtjstjsj 6y ago
  The US government gets a veto over the acts of its foreign military enemies. I don't see this as a Zoom issue. Have any other US-operating companies hosted this person?
  - nullc 6y ago
    If this were an action by the US government it would end up in court on first amendment grounds extremely quickly.

ineedasername 6y ago

No, it was the speaker being blocked. If it was merely a lecture on the topic of this person, their organization & actions, then I would share your belief that it was censorship rather than an acceptable limit on Free Speech.