Re:GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the ...
by ectoplasm on Wednesday July 29, 2015 @04:00AM
(#9966949)
What privately-owned properties do you know of where the owner allows guests or customers to speak as freely as if they were on the sidewalk, without fear of recrimination from the owner in the form of censorship or ejection? I can think of 4chan, maybe some IRC channels.
Re:GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the ...
by steveklabnik on Wednesday July 29, 2015 @08:30PM
(#9972590)
Even 4chan censors various kinds of content, actually.
Re:GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the ...
by bduerst on Wednesday July 29, 2015 @04:03AM
(#9966962)
Mill also said that the Harm principal trumps freedom of speech (i.e. individuals should be prevented from causing harm to others and/or property at the cost of their liberty).
He also says that the offense principal should not trump freedom of speech, but acknowledges that there are cases of offense that cause psychological and social harm that still qualify for the harm principal.
Was the repo code change harmful? Maybe, depending on the definition of property. Mill saw freedom of speech as a path to the truth, and he also understood that principals and rules change over time. I think he might be in favor of Github censoring their repo since it was their property and not a crucial debate towards finding the truth.
"Free speech is only first amendment" is a shallow and ignorant view of the intellectual tradition of free expression.