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Why? Most of the junk gab is famous for would get you banned here on HN too. Content moderation is... just content moderation. Gab has an absolute right unde

Why? Most of the junk gab is famous for would get you banned here on HN too. Content moderation is... just content moderation. Gab has an absolute right under the first amendment to be able to speak. No one has an obligation to repeat what they say.

2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago
> Gab has an absolute right under the first amendment to be able to speak. Gab has an absolute right under the first amendment to be able to speak most of the time without government intervention. ftfy. Speech is not unlimited. Freedom of speech only applies regarding government censorship.
- throwaways885 5y ago
  Freedom of speech is the concept, and 1st amendment is an implementation. The maximal possible implementation given the rest of constitution that came before it. So it's not just government in principle, only in practice.
  - oblio 5y ago
    At best, it's against government intervention and in public spaces. If you come to my house and start shouting nonsense you will be very unceremoniously and quite authoritarianly be kicked out and not much anyone can do about that :-)
    - BitwiseFool 5y ago
      It's a fun metaphor but there are so many ways in which it does not apply to the topic at hand. This isn't about an individuals autonomy on their own property, it's more about a societal contract and expectations over civil liberties / human rights. Comparing it to kicking people out of your house is not even on the same level.
  - BitwiseFool 5y ago
    I like to say that the Eight Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment likewise only applies to the government.
- vorpalhex 5y ago
  Freedom of speech is an ethical value. The first amendment is a legal element. Homosexuality used to be banned in the name of "decency" too.
  - UncleMeat 5y ago
    "We have to platform Nazis because otherwise bad things will happen to gay people" is not an especially compelling approach, given that Nazis won't grant gay people the same rights if they do ever take power. If sane people are in power, we can simply protect gay rights. If fascists are in power, they won't hesitate to take rights away from people they don't like.
    - vorpalhex 5y ago
      If Trump was re-elected tomorrow, do you want him to have these same powers? Do you trust your political opponents to use these same powers wisely? Humans are terrible arbiters of truth. The Hunter Biden laptop story was censored and now it's been confirmed. Was that "good" censorship? No man is fit to play the censor, regardless political party. Even Biden was anti-gay until the Obama administration and that was well past when many of us were arguing for LGBT acceptance and equality.
      - newacct583 5y ago
        > If Trump was re-elected tomorrow, do you want him to have these same powers? Uh... what powers? There's no government action at work here. We're talking about the refusal of a bunch of Mastodon services to federate with Gab. I wouldn't expect that to change at all under a different administration, precisely because the first amendment severely constrains the government's ability to regulate speech. Trump can't make Mastodon clients carry Gab any more than Biden can force them to ban it, and for exactly the same reason. > The Hunter Biden laptop story was censored and now it's been confirmed. This one I thought was hilarious. That story was covered full time for like six weeks on the most watched news network in the country! "Censored", pfft.
      - UncleMeat 5y ago
_3u10 5y ago
Most of the stuff Reddit is famous for would also get you banned here.

2OEH8eoCRo0 5y ago

> Gab has an absolute right under the first amendment to be able to speak. Gab has an absolute right under the first amendment to be able to speak most of the time without government intervention. ftfy. Speech is not unlimited. Freedom of speech only applies regarding government censorship.

throwaways885 5y ago
Freedom of speech is the concept, and 1st amendment is an implementation. The maximal possible implementation given the rest of constitution that came before it. So it's not just government in principle, only in practice.
- oblio 5y ago
  At best, it's against government intervention and in public spaces. If you come to my house and start shouting nonsense you will be very unceremoniously and quite authoritarianly be kicked out and not much anyone can do about that :-)
  - BitwiseFool 5y ago
    It's a fun metaphor but there are so many ways in which it does not apply to the topic at hand. This isn't about an individuals autonomy on their own property, it's more about a societal contract and expectations over civil liberties / human rights. Comparing it to kicking people out of your house is not even on the same level.
- BitwiseFool 5y ago
  I like to say that the Eight Amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment likewise only applies to the government.
vorpalhex 5y ago
Freedom of speech is an ethical value. The first amendment is a legal element. Homosexuality used to be banned in the name of "decency" too.
- UncleMeat 5y ago
  "We have to platform Nazis because otherwise bad things will happen to gay people" is not an especially compelling approach, given that Nazis won't grant gay people the same rights if they do ever take power. If sane people are in power, we can simply protect gay rights. If fascists are in power, they won't hesitate to take rights away from people they don't like.
  - vorpalhex 5y ago
    If Trump was re-elected tomorrow, do you want him to have these same powers? Do you trust your political opponents to use these same powers wisely? Humans are terrible arbiters of truth. The Hunter Biden laptop story was censored and now it's been confirmed. Was that "good" censorship? No man is fit to play the censor, regardless political party. Even Biden was anti-gay until the Obama administration and that was well past when many of us were arguing for LGBT acceptance and equality.
    - newacct583 5y ago
      > If Trump was re-elected tomorrow, do you want him to have these same powers? Uh... what powers? There's no government action at work here. We're talking about the refusal of a bunch of Mastodon services to federate with Gab. I wouldn't expect that to change at all under a different administration, precisely because the first amendment severely constrains the government's ability to regulate speech. Trump can't make Mastodon clients carry Gab any more than Biden can force them to ban it, and for exactly the same reason. > The Hunter Biden laptop story was censored and now it's been confirmed. This one I thought was hilarious. That story was covered full time for like six weeks on the most watched news network in the country! "Censored", pfft.
    - UncleMeat 5y ago

_3u10 5y ago

Most of the stuff Reddit is famous for would also get you banned here.