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Disinformation exists. Most people rely on quality information, and on social institutions that work to determine truth.
Scare quoting disinformation is for nihilists. Is that where you're aiming?
How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
421–430 of 994 posts
Re: How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
#422I don't really care, tbh. There are better rights to fight for: food, shelter, education, healthcare. If said freedom of speech had been to be used to fight for materially meaningful rights, I'd be a big fan. Most Americans never bothered to use the right in any way that improved this country. You don't use it, you lose it. As it stands most people associate it with the right to behave like a dick in public.
Free speech should be considered a non-negotiable human right. You can't just trade those off against each other. The distinction into "materially meaningful" rights in my opinion just shows how easily both types of rights are taken for granted until noticeably revoked.
It's not even a coherent concept the way westerners use it. I would be much happier if we called it "acceptable speech" or something to acknowledge you can't call for dismembering your Tutsi cockroach neighbor. Idk why, maybe I'm just being sensitive.
"Free speech" as a right seems pretty useless without material rights. Complaining about it isn't going to change anything. What does that even look like?
But we can trace all this crappy formulation of civics to the brain rot that is worshiping the enlightenment and founding fathers. Why is this still a thing in 2025? Nobody is putting a gun to your head to care about Jefferson or Locke or the actual basis of our society, Hobbes. We can chuck the entire concept of rights out the window and come up with agreements surrounding social behavior that actually reflect the society and culture we have today or want tomorrow.
Re: How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
#423Earlier quoted context omitted.
American voters no longer agree on what made America special.
Yes, misinformation won. But when Trump actively cuts benefits, cuts jobs, cuts research, asks for bribes openly, quid pro quo everywhere, town halls unanswered - do voters in America feel willing to change their votes? Are voters willing to strike until the President resigns? Or are people ok with the country being sold to third world style corruption that is happening right in front of their faces?
They've already forgotten that the President literally robbed his own people with a meme coin.
Re: How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
#424Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have yet to see a free speech absolutist express concern about the government and media suppressing Gaza protestors or LGBTQ books being banned or anything else that affects the left. Doesn't seem very principled to me.
Nobody is banning books. Removing inappropriate material from school libraries isn't book banning. Have you seen some of the books that are being removed? That books with graphic depictions of aren't appropriate for children is a view perfectly compatible with strong support for freedom of expression.
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Re: How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
#425Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have yet to see a free speech absolutist express concern about the government and media suppressing Gaza protestors or LGBTQ books being banned or anything else that affects the left. Doesn't seem very principled to me.
> I have yet to see a free speech absolutist express concern ... Hi there. You are seeing one right now. Well, seeing the words of one. I am a free speech absolutist. What this administration is doing is abominable. I have always seen anti-Israeli campus posters as idiots, but Trump's crackdown on them is, imho, unconstitutional and immoral.
> anti-Israeli campus posters as idiots
The problem with free speech absolutism is that it leads to the 'paradox of tolerance'. We are now seeing the fruits of that line of thinking.
> The paradox of tolerance is a philosophical concept suggesting that if a society extends tolerance to those who are intolerant, it risks enabling the eventual dominance of intolerance; thereby undermining the very principle of tolerance.
Re: How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
#426Earlier quoted context omitted.
The US Government has checks and balances. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers#Checks_an...
I understand that, but the people literally voted for someone who promised to get rid of checks and balances, and rule as a dictator. Isn't that what they wanted?
Republicans and independents indicated in polls that they did not take what Trump said during the 2024 campaign literally. Voters didn’t give him a mandate, they thought they were voting for a troll.
https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2024/10/22/many-voters-...
Re: How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
#427Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are linking to an LLM to support a factual point? And to Grok, an LLM controlled by a political operative?
If you ask Grok, it will point you to the source. But let me do that for you below. Original Transcript: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/2v8g39z2ab1jo0waj6tn4/AJhMeQd... MR. BILL WHITAKER: And yet Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to be charting his own course. The Biden-Harris Administration has pressed him to agree to a ceasefire, he's resisted. You urged him not to go into Lebanon, he went in anyway. Does the U.S. hav…
Is there anything meaningful here? Like is there some kind of edit that matters?
Could you try making your point directly? You seem to be expecting me to have the video memorized or something so I can pick out the difference from the transcript.
Re: How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
#428He’s helping make the left care about free speech again. Something they wanted to continue censoring.
Ah yes, nothing screams “free speech hero” like a guy who tried to censor the press, punish critics, and begged Twitter to silence his enemies.
Re: How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
#429Not really clear what this article is about. If it's about using Signal app to escape FoIA it's odd not to discuss who actually started that or use of personal servers in basements & shredding mails when caught. If it's about the leak which was inadvertent even if a sack-able offence then that's nothing to do with 1st or any amendment. If it's about free speech in general, to have any trace of integrity, objectivity…
Increadible that "but what about her emails" is still the only defense for sending military secrets over a non secure line to a journalist
That was, as I mentioned a mistake not intentional. If anything was intentional it was the so called journalist giving it publicity instead of doing his duty as a citizen to report it, delete it. Doing anything else is in my books treason.
As a company employee that's what you're supposed to do if copied wrongly on an email. In fact that's the usual disclaimer that appears in many email footers.
Re: How each pillar of the First Amendment is under attack
#430[flagged]
Pretty much what I was going to write. We came real close to having no freedom of speech at all. Both the government and the media companies / press almost completely merged, to the point where the white house would send around the lists of people to ban or blacklist. But I'm sure Brian already knows all that and thinks "it's OK when we do it".
This thinking is... pretty far gone, honestly.