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> It is the selective censorship of certain reasonable uses of free speech that is concerning here. Free speech laws don't apply to corporate or private censor

> It is the selective censorship of certain reasonable uses of free speech that is concerning here. Free speech laws don't apply to corporate or private censorship. > Who decides what is and is not appropriate? The owners of the property. Can I come over to your place and say offensive things?

JungleGymSam 11y ago
That's willful ignorance of the real issue. This is not an isolated incident. Society is increasingly rejecting any and all "offensive" language and behavior. Should we all be nice and respectful to each other? Yes, of course. Are people that way? No. Can we police ourselves fairly and achieve a society that is not offensive? Absolutely not.
- ectoplasm 11y ago
  > Can we police ourselves fairly and achieve a society that is not offensive? Absolutely not. Hacker News is a pretty nice place.
  - JoshTriplett 11y ago
    This thread, and almost any thread about social issues in technology, demonstrates that it has both nice and awful people hanging out on it.
    - ectoplasm 11y ago
      Perhaps, but what makes it a nice place is the limits on how awful people can be.
  - lordfoom 11y ago
    And yet one is allowed to use the word retard.
aerovistae 11y ago
Depends, is his place a known haven for sharing information, specifically designed to encourage and promote openness?
- ectoplasm 11y ago
  Unlike your ISP, GitHub is not a common carrier.
PopeOfNope 11y ago
Free speech laws don't apply to corporate or private censorship. Nobody's suggesting we sue or otherwise bring criminal charges against Github. Your response is a non-sequitur at best. The owners of the property. Can I come over to your place and say offensive things? Legally? Yes, you can.
- ascorbic 11y ago
  And legally you can eject him from your property if he does that.
  - PopeOfNope 11y ago
    Yes. What's your point?
    - ectoplasm 11y ago
      OP used the term "free speech" which is a legal term that in the US refers to 1st amendment protections around expression. Well, free speech laws don't apply to me on your property. It is legal for you to tell me to shut up or get out.
      - PopeOfNope 11y ago
        Yes. Now, imagine you're in OP's grocery store. It's still private property, but he provides a public service out of it. Can he still prevent you from shouting at him? Do free speech laws cover privately owned public spaces?
        ectoplasm 11y ago
        Yes, you can eject someone from a store for being rude. Your ISP is not allowed to censor content (as far as I know) because it is a common carrier. Google is not a common carrier, they can do what they want. If Google can do it, GitHub can do it. Note that I don't necessarily think censorship is good. I just get annoyed when people mistakenly think they have a constitutional right to not be censored.

JungleGymSam 11y ago

That's willful ignorance of the real issue. This is not an isolated incident. Society is increasingly rejecting any and all "offensive" language and behavior. Should we all be nice and respectful to each other? Yes, of course. Are people that way? No. Can we police ourselves fairly and achieve a society that is not offensive? Absolutely not.

ectoplasm 11y ago
> Can we police ourselves fairly and achieve a society that is not offensive? Absolutely not. Hacker News is a pretty nice place.
- JoshTriplett 11y ago
  This thread, and almost any thread about social issues in technology, demonstrates that it has both nice and awful people hanging out on it.
  - ectoplasm 11y ago
    Perhaps, but what makes it a nice place is the limits on how awful people can be.
- lordfoom 11y ago
  And yet one is allowed to use the word retard.

aerovistae 11y ago

Depends, is his place a known haven for sharing information, specifically designed to encourage and promote openness?

ectoplasm 11y ago
Unlike your ISP, GitHub is not a common carrier.

PopeOfNope 11y ago

Free speech laws don't apply to corporate or private censorship. Nobody's suggesting we sue or otherwise bring criminal charges against Github. Your response is a non-sequitur at best. The owners of the property. Can I come over to your place and say offensive things? Legally? Yes, you can.

ascorbic 11y ago
And legally you can eject him from your property if he does that.
- PopeOfNope 11y ago
  Yes. What's your point?
  - ectoplasm 11y ago
    OP used the term "free speech" which is a legal term that in the US refers to 1st amendment protections around expression. Well, free speech laws don't apply to me on your property. It is legal for you to tell me to shut up or get out.
    - PopeOfNope 11y ago
      Yes. Now, imagine you're in OP's grocery store. It's still private property, but he provides a public service out of it. Can he still prevent you from shouting at him? Do free speech laws cover privately owned public spaces?
      - ectoplasm 11y ago
        Yes, you can eject someone from a store for being rude. Your ISP is not allowed to censor content (as far as I know) because it is a common carrier. Google is not a common carrier, they can do what they want. If Google can do it, GitHub can do it. Note that I don't necessarily think censorship is good. I just get annoyed when people mistakenly think they have a constitutional right to not be censored.