4 ms·

I think it genuinely depends on how extreme the speech is. Alex Jones arguably profited by spreading lies knowing it would ruin the lives of specific people who

I think it genuinely depends on how extreme the speech is. Alex Jones arguably profited by spreading lies knowing it would ruin the lives of specific people who already had tragedy happen to them. I genuinely don’t know how to defend that behavior on principles of free speech and genuinely wished Alex Jones was stopped years earlier. Michelle Carter convinced her boyfriend to commit suicide over text messages and was convicted for it. I don’t know if I disagree that trying to use speech to convince a sick person into suicide shouldn’t be legal. But at the same time I’m generally a free speech proponent and find jailing people for speech abhorrent. But I struggle to believe all speech should be legal if it knowingly ruins lives or causes death.

potatototoo99 4y ago
Alex Jones spouting some conspiracy theories didn't ruin any person's lives. The chilling effect of attacking "desinformation" on the other hand, does.
- dmix 4y ago
  Plus human societies has survived and thrived for a long time and it has always had a fringe group of conspiracy theorists nipping at the heels of the mainstream. There's really no justification for extreme measures to deal with this problem, especially when the potential side-effects largely outweigh any potential gains. People try to say that things are different now with tech, that conspiracies are spreading faster. But what is also spreading faster and is 10x more popular than conspiracy theories is alarmist news and pearl clutching that society won't be able to deal with it without widespread censorship. People need to step away from Twitter and take a deep breath. We can handle it.
coderaptor 4y ago
Blame the fools who believe the misinformation (or better yet, take responsibility for publishing truth in a more compelling form). It takes two to tango, and one of these tango dancers was raised in a country where they were given a right to dance.

potatototoo99 4y ago

Alex Jones spouting some conspiracy theories didn't ruin any person's lives. The chilling effect of attacking "desinformation" on the other hand, does.

dmix 4y ago
Plus human societies has survived and thrived for a long time and it has always had a fringe group of conspiracy theorists nipping at the heels of the mainstream. There's really no justification for extreme measures to deal with this problem, especially when the potential side-effects largely outweigh any potential gains. People try to say that things are different now with tech, that conspiracies are spreading faster. But what is also spreading faster and is 10x more popular than conspiracy theories is alarmist news and pearl clutching that society won't be able to deal with it without widespread censorship. People need to step away from Twitter and take a deep breath. We can handle it.

coderaptor 4y ago

Blame the fools who believe the misinformation (or better yet, take responsibility for publishing truth in a more compelling form). It takes two to tango, and one of these tango dancers was raised in a country where they were given a right to dance.