Forkbeard84:
xBCxSEALxTEAMx6:
Forkbeard84:
And who is going to decide what is racist and what needs to be censored? Therein lies the problem because as soon as you give one group the power to decide what should be censored, you open the door to having your own freedoms taken away. That’s why “Freedom of Speech is the right to express opinions without censorship or restraint.” Give me the unfiltered speech and I’ll listen to what I want to. And at the same time, I’ll say what I want to and you don’t have to listen. That’s freedom of speech.
Many of the people asking for censorship these days should be careful of what they wish for. They are opening the door to oppression.
Well the thing of it is (i’m saying this sincerely), is that, there never has been Freedom of Speech when it comes to business. We in the states still have the FCC as an example, with monitors who determine what can be broadcasted on tv and radio (providing its not satellite or cable). It’s been like that for literally many decades.
Freedom of Speech, is what Government provides, in that you can’t be arrested by them for it. Not that you can’t be thrown out of an establishment (that happens every day with protesters or customers not following decorum) or out of a job, or forum, or game, or otherwise civilly liable for that speech, if its determined to slander or hurt others.
Personally, i never heard these Freedom of Speech arguments of this type on games and the like, or the expectancy of, until you go to social media thinking folks have these “Rights”.
And what folks don’t understand, is there are Moderators who make the determinations on Games, Forums, or Facebook, or You Tube and the like. They have TOS folks have to follow, and have folks who monitor and make those determinations.
So, it’s not a slippery slope at all when you’re dealing with private entities.
You have to simply treat it as, you’re on someone elses property (like, their servers), and in that proprietors of that property that determine what proper conduct is. Of course, there’s no forcing anybody to play certain games, or any games. Or work at certain establishments with rules you may not like.
You make a really good point about private entities being able to do what they want and filter any speech they want. Very true and they don’t fall under freedom of speech laws. I still think it can lead to oppression though. Imagine a private company like Facebook deciding to filter something out that THEY decided was wrong. That’s going to impact the speech of a lot of people. Or imagine Google deciding not to provide certain search results because THEY decide it is bad. That’s going to impact a lot of people and could lead to oppression. I’d still rather be given all the raw speech and information and then filter it myself.
disposalist:
There is perhaps no worse abuse of Freedom of Speech than to use it to excuse bigotry and hatred. There is no ‘right’ to abuse others.
All freedoms come with exclusions and limitations. Most people can self-regulate because they feel responsibility to their society, have empathy for others and know when they are being ‘bad’. Even a sociopath can see what society deems acceptable and moderate their behaviour if they aren’t stupid.
Some apparently just can’t work it out and need to be told when to shut the heck up for the good of us all.
Saying “ignore it” when it comes to things like racism is like saying “Just swim around it” when someone takes a dump in the community swimming pool. Saying “it’s freedom of speech” is like saying “Take a bite! It’s good for you!”.
Racism is bad and disgusting. I believe the definition of racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. I also do not agree with using freedom of speech to excuse bigotry and hatred. However I do believe for reasons previously stated that people be free to speak like a bigot and then society can tell them why it’s wrong. I don’t think their speech should be filtered. I don’t like what they say but I respect their right to say it. The problem is in deciding what to filter. And what is the definition of racism exactly? I have several people I know on facebook telling me that only white people can be racist because white people are a privileged class and have always been the class of oppression. They use terms like “white fragility” to describe white people that don’t understand that only whites can be racist. They say no other race can be racist because all other races have been oppressed by whites. Are those people going to run the racism filter? I would not agree with their filter. That’s the slippery slope I’m relating too.
Right, but there’s an easy answer to prevent these misunderstandings by mods or filters, which is, just don’t post on Facebook or social media lol. Some folks may find this funny, or even impossible, but there are those of us who did not grow up with internet, or social media. If we wanted to excercise our Freedom Speech, it was go to the public square, voting booth or town hall.
Even today, i don’t have a Facebook or Twitter, or You Tube etc, acct. I never did, and never will lol. I started on the gaming forums, when years ago i bought a game, called Xbox, and they told me i had to post the question on the forums. But absent that, i don’'t use social media.
I think the slippery slope, comes when those who are born into social media, seem to think these private companies are their public square, when it’'s simply not. These are private companies, driven by profits and civil liabilities, and factually are not at all our public square.
So yes, there is an issue of what can be construed as what, and by whom . But that’s only for those who believe private companies are an outlet for Freedom of Speech, where it is clearly not.