Mythicpluto t1_iy8xnic wrote on November 29, 2022 at 5:13 PM

Reply to comment by mmarollo in Online Safety Bill: Plan to make big tech remove harmful content axed by StuffyGoose

As someone that can relate to a need for censorship perhaps I can at least give some insight into my thought process. I don’t really think many people want more censorship rather than a shift in what’s being censored. I think pictures of mass shootings, nudity, and normal online content should not be censored at all. I think that spreading ideologies of hate and manipulative tactics are true evil. I haven’t really fleshed out my opinions on this subject so this is really just off the cuff.

mmarollo t1_iy8zcg8 wrote on November 29, 2022 at 5:24 PM

At least in the US, speech is protected by the First Amendment whereas obscenity is not — the reverse of what you said. “Ideologies of hate” are terrible, but banning them is much worse. For one thing your idea of hateful ideology might be very different from, for example, a Muslim American. For centuries we’ve known that the best antidote for bad speech is more speech, not censorship. All you do is drive people underground, and lose any chance to reason with them.

Mythicpluto t1_iy92abe wrote on November 29, 2022 at 5:43 PM

I agree with everything you just said and thus will refine my opinion. The enemy of free speech(in the US) isn’t censorship, it is the forces that are driving people apart. I would say that modern day propaganda has done more to hurt free speech in the US than censorship by far. What use is free speech if the people don’t want to talk to each other. I wholeheartedly agree that free speech is needed, but in its present state it feels useless. Words only have meaning if ears are listening and between the “snowflakes” and the “trumpies” I don’t think many people are. As someone that is younger, It’s hard to see the value in free speech. I appreciate you showing me some of the value tho🙏