Re:Apple Removes Infowars from Podcast Directory
by rbanffy on Monday August 06, 2018 @12:04PM
(#17698807)
It's not like Apple is deleting his media. Apple is deleting the pointers, as they don't want to be associated with him (which is perfectly reasonable - I wouldn't want that either).
His right to free speech is not infringed. He is still free to host the RSS feed and the media files however he sees fit.
Re:Apple Removes Infowars from Podcast Directory
by jessriedel on Monday August 06, 2018 @12:19PM
(#17698983)
We all acknowledge that it's a violation of the first amendment if the government simply makes it hard to access speech even if it's still technically available. The government can't order Google to stop indexing your website even if they allow your website to remain online.
Plenty of people here have argued for the gravely mistaken position that free speech protections should only apply to the government, but I've never heard anyone argue that private individuals and organizations are morally bound to protect free speech in certain circumstances but this only applies if they are completely wiping out the speech rather than just making it difficult to access. I don't understand why that would be the case.
Re:Apple Removes Infowars from Podcast Directory
by rbanffy on Monday August 06, 2018 @06:14PM
(#17702240)
The key word in your argument is 'morally'. What's moral is fluid and varies from person to person. I think it's perfectly legitimate to suppress free speech locally when you protect it globally - for example, in the case of hate speech that demands free speech of certain groups to be globally suppressed.
I don't know anything about the facts of the case at hand. I am responding to the argument, made above and many place in this thread, that the only sorts of protections on free speech are legal ones, and that in particular they don't apply to legal actions taken individuals or private organizations.