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Do you think it is more or less censored than before?
by the_doctah 3y ago
Do you think it is more or less censored than before?
- JohnFen 3y agoIf that Forbes article is correct, then it's about the same amount of censorship as before.
- the_doctah 3y agoThat implies government requests were the sole source of Twitter's censorship.
- JohnFen 3y agoYes indeed. It's only "censorship" when the government demands it. Engaging in voluntary moderation is not censorship in a meaningful sense. It is, in fact, an aspect of freedom of speech that people should not be compelled to engage in speech that they don't want to engage in.
- the_doctah 3y agoI don't agree with your definition of censorship. A government doesn't have to be involved to qualify. Moderation is a subset of censorship.
- JohnFen 3y agoStrictly speaking, you're correct -- but it also highlights that not all censorship is wrong or bad. It can very easily be a valid exercise of free speech rights. Twitter (or any social media) moderating people's posts isn't wrong, for instance. Nobody's rights are being infringed when they do this. You might disagree with their moderation policies, but that's a different thing altogether. Legally speaking in the US, it's only censorship when the government is doing it.
- briantakita 3y agoIt's government censorship when the government is involved with funding the companies doing the censoring or when the FBI "nudges" companies to suppress stories. Having spooks in executive positions doesn't help the optics either. If anything, a bunch of companies acting in lock step to suppress certain stories or opinions should face anti-trust scrutiny...assuming we have a functioning justice system. The government outsourcing censorship to private corporations is government censorship...
- swayvil 3y agoThat's some fine semantic tapdancing.
- inopinatus 3y agoFair point; for example, I'm now self-censoring on Twitter since it become overrun with toxic arseholes after October 2022.
- stefan_ 3y agoHuh? It is now vastly more censored - everyone who isn't paying for the blue check is essentially shadowbanned, while "conversations" are dominated by ChatGPT reply bots and grifters.