Re:Meta in Myanmar
by alephnerd on Saturday September 30, 2023 @07:21AM
(#37714396)
> The entire idea of free speech really rests on something as shaky as the sticks and stones principle!
The "Free Speech means I can say anything I want on any platform" stance is actually very new in the United States.
This only started after the counterculture in the late 1960s-70s, when libertarian individualism (yes, the hippies had a very socially libertarian stance) in the New Left and the New Right lead to the revocation of laws such as the Fairness Doctrine, the Comstock Act, etc.
Before the 1970s-80s, American Free Speech doctrine was much closer to what you see in Canada, the UK, or Germany today - you are free to criticize and protest against the US Govt, but that doesn't mean you are free from moderation or censorship on a private or
public platform.
Jurisprudence in the 70s-80s changed that by essentially removing the need for moderation, and that's how we have the irresponsible form of free speech that we have in the US today.
Re:Meta in Myanmar
by alephnerd on Saturday September 30, 2023 @03:15PM
(#37718755)
It's essentially the paradox of tolerance. The solution to that paradox is to ignore it. To quote Chidi Anagonye, this is why people hate moral philosophy professors.
The "Free Speech means I can say anything I want on any platform" stance is actually very new in the United States.
This only started after the counterculture in the late 1960s-70s, when libertarian individualism (yes, the hippies had a very socially libertarian stance) in the New Left and the New Right lead to the revocation of laws such as the Fairness Doctrine, the Comstock Act, etc.
Before the 1970s-80s, American Free Speech doctrine was much closer to what you see in Canada, the UK, or Germany today - you are free to criticize and protest against the US Govt, but that doesn't mean you are free from moderation or censorship on a private or public platform.
Jurisprudence in the 70s-80s changed that by essentially removing the need for moderation, and that's how we have the irresponsible form of free speech that we have in the US today.
I blame Boomers and Gen X.