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This is a false equivalency. Facebook, unlike the Catholic Church 500 years ago, doesn't rule anything.
by bun_at_work 6y ago
This is a false equivalency. Facebook, unlike the Catholic Church 500 years ago, doesn't rule anything.
- hertzrat 6y agoWe’re taking about promoting the idea of deplatforming people on a massive scale because of their beliefs. I’m sorry the idea of resisting that offends so many people and I never thought hn would be the place it’s promoted so strongly Edit: these aren’t nazis were taking about, they’re people who get a kick out of using the scientific method in a mistaken way
- istjohn 6y agoNo, they just control the world's largest public square.
- bun_at_work 6y agoYeah - a private company. Before them people found ways to communicate that didn't prey on the weak parts of human psychology. Why not use those methods now? Why is a private service provider beholden to any crackpot? Is the argument being made that the government should be in charge of how private companies moderate their content? Or just that you disagree with Facebook's choice? If it's the latter, that's fine, we can disagree. If it's the former you're getting into some awfully murky logical territory.
- istjohn 6y agoMy position is that when a private company has so much power that it rivals nation states in the control it can exert on public discourse, it should be limited in similar ways to the way we limit political power with first ammendment protections. The case for such free speech protections is essentially the same as the case for the first ammendment restrictions on government power. Arguably, the case is even stronger, since private corporations have no democratic accountability.