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Where does Reclaim the Net claim Mailchimp is the federal government, or does not have a right to make these decisions? Nowhere: that appears to be a strawman.
by thu2111 6y ago
Where does Reclaim the Net claim Mailchimp is the federal government, or does not have a right to make these decisions? Nowhere: that appears to be a strawman.
It is perfectly legitimate to be angry when companies start restricting their services to political allies, or arbitrarily blocking communication for people who disagree on who to vote for. Freedom of speech is a value encoded in the constitution because it is important, and because societies have learned over and over what happens when it's lost. It's the first thing dictatorships get rid of for a reason.
- shortformblog 6y agoIf you start screaming at the top of your lungs inside of a Walmart, they will kick you out because you are on private property. But you can still scream outside.
- eropple 6y agoAfter one watches enough of the "censorship!" crowd wring their hands, it starts to become obvious that the agitation is not for the freedom and the liberty to speak, but for the freedom and the liberty to require your attention. I think back to this article a lot: https://www.salon.com/2012/07/01/southern_values_revived/ https://www.salon.com/2012/07/01/southern_values_revived/
- thu2111 6y agoNobody is screaming in a Walmart. That analogy doesn't work at all, especially not for mailing lists where the users requested to be on it.
- Falling3 6y agoRTN's focus on freedom of speech while condemning Mailchimp's actions is absolutely meant as an equivocation that tries to apply Constitutional protections in an argument where they don't apply. And your comment does the exact same thing only more explicitly. The First Amendment has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. And it's very telling that people would prefer to focus on platforms regulating their content and "cancel culture" than addressing the very real and consistent attacks on the First Amendment by the current administration.
- thu2111 6y agoRead my post again. Yes, the FA doesn't apply to companies. But it exists because the underlying principle is very important. Important for everyone, not just the government. It is entirely reasonable to point out that if something is so important it's written into the constitution, then it's important across wider society as well, and that what Mailchimp and other US tech firms are doing here is not right, wise or good.