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Re:StreetLend.com shuts down, citing GDPR regulations by briandear on Monday April 30, 2018 @12:11AM (#16955662)
Companies absolutely should have free speech rights. A company is a group of PEOPLE who have joined together to sell or promote a product, service, or policy.

Should a union be denied freedom of speech? Because a union is a corporation as well. What about the Sierra Club? Should they be silenced? They too are a corporation. Should a teachers union be allowed to speak, but Khan Academy denied the same right? Should organizations advocating free WiFi be allowed speech, but Comcast be denied the same right?

The “companies are not people” tripe being parroted since Citizens United is a naïve and dangerous road down which people are attempting to travel. At the core of the issue is the right of free association. Free association is fundamental to free speech and a free society. Profit motive is irrelevant because profit is just as valid of a goal as “better schools” or “better public policy” or whatever the cause might be.

Re:StreetLend.com shuts down, citing GDPR regulations by mcbits on Monday April 30, 2018 @01:15AM (#16955957)
People are composed of cells that work together for a common purpose. Is a person a cell, to be treated the same way we treat actual cells?

Governments are people who have joined together for the common purpose of governing. Does that make a government indistinguishable from an individual person, which is basically just a cell?

Is there a difference between one kid running across your lawn and 10,000 kids organized for the purpose of running across your lawn?

Re:StreetLend.com shuts down, citing GDPR regulations by dingaling on Monday April 30, 2018 @04:34AM (#16956804)
People are granted free speech because they are considered valuable, unique, irreplaceable, self-conscious entities.

A corporation is a piece of paper registered for $100 that can be destroyed without penalty. It is a tool for achieving an objective, just like a computer. Many people join together to make Wikipedia, but we don't grant that website free speech...

Re:StreetLend.com shuts down, citing GDPR regulations by rrrazdan on Monday April 30, 2018 @01:54AM (#16956116)
I don’t know why you are downvoted since your comment is a well formed addition to the discussion.

I upvoted you and I am seeing this on HN more often now. That people would use downvote as a signal of disagreement.

Re:StreetLend.com shuts down, citing GDPR regulations by lovich on Monday April 30, 2018 @09:12AM (#16958274)
We're in a thread where people are claiming that China's approach to regulation is objectively better than the EU's because it let's them do whatever they want as a company. I was always going to upset some people who are the pro corporate ideology by claiming that companies aren't people and HN has been turning more and more into reddit as it's gotten more popular