3 ms·

Phew, they better be careful what they ask for. The current regime might find themselves hoisted upon their own petard.

jazz9k 4mo ago
Huh? We have more free speech than ever online at this moment. The last regime colluded with the major social media companies to censor people they didn't like and it's also recently come to light that they attempted to get the Joe Rogan/Spotify deal nuked, all based on censoring speech they don't like. The liberal government of the UK is moving toward complete online censorship with their bill to prevent children from going on social media sites. The reality is that they will now be able to identify and will arrest people for posting opinions they don't like. This has already been happening for the last couple of years and will now be even easier. This is exactly how it works in China. If Democrats come into power again in the US, this will soon be coming to a computer near you. This should be the #1 story on HN, but the tech community has been strangely silent on the subject.... I just wish the people claiming to be champions of free speech and rights will just admit that this all goes out the window when it applies to speech and people you don't like. It would make everything much easier.
- platevoltage 4mo ago
  I'll give you that Liberals are also antagonistic towards online free speech, but pretending that we have more free speech online right now than ever before is the most insane thing I've ever heard. Just because you can post nazi shit on Twitter now does not mean we have more online freedom.
  - nxm 4mo ago
    Please provide evidence that online speech in the USA is restricted in any way, unlike in Europe where you get fined and/or arrested for mean memes
    - SpicyLemonZest 4mo ago
      It’s the official position of the US government that posting the number 8647 is a crime. I know this sounds like a crazy thing I made up, but they posted a detailed explainer (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-former-fbi-director-james-comey-threats-harm-president-trump https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-fo...): any reasonable person, they argue, would know that this number is a threat to kill the President. It's also true, I should acknowledge, that the US has a strong system of checks and balances against stupid proclamations like this and a generally oppositional culture around speech restrictions. It's unlikely I'll be arrested for posting 8647, or indeed for pointing you to other illegal numbers like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Speech_Flag https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Speech_Flag, and if I were I'd wear it as a badge of honor. But just because Americans are successfully fighting it doesn't mean there's no issue.
    - infinite_spin 4mo ago
      This was pretty easy to find examples of. https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/when-complaining-about-a-public-official-can-land-you-in-jail https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/when-complaining-about... https://ij.org/press-release/supreme-court-rejects-appeal-of-man-arrested-for-facebook-police-parody/ https://ij.org/press-release/supreme-court-rejects-appeal-of... https://www.rcfp.org/supreme-court-throws-out-1876-criminal-libel-statute/ https://www.rcfp.org/supreme-court-throws-out-1876-criminal-... https://www.fire.org/cases/larry-bushart-v-perry-county https://www.fire.org/cases/larry-bushart-v-perry-county There's a lot more.
      - amanaplanacanal 4mo ago
        Well sure. The police can arrest you whenever they want, we rely on the courts to sort it out. Qualified immunity is terrible law, but that doesn't have anything to do with free speech.
        deleted 4mo ago
        [deleted]
    - 4mo ago
- jmull 4mo ago
  You are kidding yourself if you think this is a liberal vs conservative issue. The current FCC chairman threatens the broadcast license and to block deals of networks who air shows the president doesn’t like. These threats appear to have lead directly to the cancellation of shows — a clear violation of the first amendment, though there have been no consequences so far. If you really care about this issue, get out of your information bubble. Whichever party is in power, Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives, have tried to suppress speech they don’t like when they get in power. If we pretend this is a partisan issue we can’t stop them.
  - plagiarist 4mo ago
    The level of doublethink from the right is completely insane. Additionally, when I fact check what they're whining about, it is often like, "the White House requested Twitter ban medical misinformation about coronavirus, without threat of consequences, and they did."
- jrflowers 4mo ago
  https://www.newsweek.com/pro-palestinian-protest-states-colleges-illegal-bds-1895292 https://www.newsweek.com/pro-palestinian-protest-states-coll...
- foco_tubi 4mo ago
  Collusion is the wrong word. Coercion is more appropriate. > I just wish the people claiming to be champions of free speech and rights will just admit that this all goes out the window when it applies to speech and people you don't like Try using the word "cis-gender" on Twitter and let us know how that goes.
  - irishcoffee 4mo ago
    Considering Twitter the bastion of _anything_ is as stupid now as it was 15 years ago.

Huh? We have more free speech than ever online at this moment. The last regime colluded with the major social media companies to censor people they didn't like and it's also recently come to light that they attempted to get the Joe Rogan/Spotify deal nuked, all based on censoring speech they don't like. The liberal government of the UK is moving toward complete online censorship with their bill to prevent children from going on social media sites. The reality is that they will now be able to identify and will arrest people for posting opinions they don't like. This has already been happening for the last couple of years and will now be even easier. This is exactly how it works in China. If Democrats come into power again in the US, this will soon be coming to a computer near you. This should be the #1 story on HN, but the tech community has been strangely silent on the subject.... I just wish the people claiming to be champions of free speech and rights will just admit that this all goes out the window when it applies to speech and people you don't like. It would make everything much easier.

platevoltage 4mo ago
I'll give you that Liberals are also antagonistic towards online free speech, but pretending that we have more free speech online right now than ever before is the most insane thing I've ever heard. Just because you can post nazi shit on Twitter now does not mean we have more online freedom.
- nxm 4mo ago
  Please provide evidence that online speech in the USA is restricted in any way, unlike in Europe where you get fined and/or arrested for mean memes
  - SpicyLemonZest 4mo ago
    It’s the official position of the US government that posting the number 8647 is a crime. I know this sounds like a crazy thing I made up, but they posted a detailed explainer (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-former-fbi-director-james-comey-threats-harm-president-trump https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/federal-grand-jury-indicts-fo...): any reasonable person, they argue, would know that this number is a threat to kill the President. It's also true, I should acknowledge, that the US has a strong system of checks and balances against stupid proclamations like this and a generally oppositional culture around speech restrictions. It's unlikely I'll be arrested for posting 8647, or indeed for pointing you to other illegal numbers like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Speech_Flag https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Speech_Flag, and if I were I'd wear it as a badge of honor. But just because Americans are successfully fighting it doesn't mean there's no issue.
  - infinite_spin 4mo ago
    This was pretty easy to find examples of. https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/when-complaining-about-a-public-official-can-land-you-in-jail https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/when-complaining-about... https://ij.org/press-release/supreme-court-rejects-appeal-of-man-arrested-for-facebook-police-parody/ https://ij.org/press-release/supreme-court-rejects-appeal-of... https://www.rcfp.org/supreme-court-throws-out-1876-criminal-libel-statute/ https://www.rcfp.org/supreme-court-throws-out-1876-criminal-... https://www.fire.org/cases/larry-bushart-v-perry-county https://www.fire.org/cases/larry-bushart-v-perry-county There's a lot more.
    - amanaplanacanal 4mo ago
      Well sure. The police can arrest you whenever they want, we rely on the courts to sort it out. Qualified immunity is terrible law, but that doesn't have anything to do with free speech.
      - deleted 4mo ago
        [deleted]
  - 4mo ago
jmull 4mo ago
You are kidding yourself if you think this is a liberal vs conservative issue. The current FCC chairman threatens the broadcast license and to block deals of networks who air shows the president doesn’t like. These threats appear to have lead directly to the cancellation of shows — a clear violation of the first amendment, though there have been no consequences so far. If you really care about this issue, get out of your information bubble. Whichever party is in power, Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives, have tried to suppress speech they don’t like when they get in power. If we pretend this is a partisan issue we can’t stop them.
- plagiarist 4mo ago
  The level of doublethink from the right is completely insane. Additionally, when I fact check what they're whining about, it is often like, "the White House requested Twitter ban medical misinformation about coronavirus, without threat of consequences, and they did."
jrflowers 4mo ago
https://www.newsweek.com/pro-palestinian-protest-states-colleges-illegal-bds-1895292 https://www.newsweek.com/pro-palestinian-protest-states-coll...
foco_tubi 4mo ago
Collusion is the wrong word. Coercion is more appropriate. > I just wish the people claiming to be champions of free speech and rights will just admit that this all goes out the window when it applies to speech and people you don't like Try using the word "cis-gender" on Twitter and let us know how that goes.
- irishcoffee 4mo ago
  Considering Twitter the bastion of _anything_ is as stupid now as it was 15 years ago.