Re:Meta Forced to Reveal Anonymous Facebook User's Identity
by phkahler on Monday July 31, 2023 @08:53AM
(#36941852)
>> However, you having the right to defend yourself against baseless accusations isn't a threat against anyone's human rights.
The key point is that to defend yourself against baseless accusations often requires that the accuser be known.
Re:Meta Forced to Reveal Anonymous Facebook User's Identity
by chipsa on Tuesday August 01, 2023 @11:31AM
(#36957328)
Free speech is not just the government. The first amendment incarnation of it applies against the government, but the first amendment isn’t the whole of free speech.
Re:Meta Forced to Reveal Anonymous Facebook User's Identity
by jeroenhd on Tuesday August 01, 2023 @05:27PM
(#36963246)
The first ammendment doesn't apply to a Dutch court case.
Of course there's article 7 of the Dutch constitution (as a guide for laws related to speech, not necessarily for individual rights, as judges cannot directly use them in most judgements) and article 10 of the ECHR (which comes with loads of exceptions like ensuring protection of morals) but those are still directed at states and governments rather than individual freedoms.
Of course the concept of freedom of expression goes beyond the legal definition, but the legal definition is the only one that's relevant as that's the freedom you actually have.
If I go around this forum posting "chips rapes children" everywhere you go and you sue me for defamation, that doesn't mean you're against free speech. You have the right to protect your good name as much as I have the right to express my opinions about you. I this example, you would obviously have the ability to crush me in court for spreading baseless accusations.
There are troubling threats to free speech, such as the incendiary lies spread under the guise of "fake news", followed by governments trying to control the wild conspiracy theories and endangering our rights to free speech in the process. However, you having the right to defend yourself against baseless accusations isn't a threat against anyone's human rights.