31–40 of 266 posts
Back in 2022, when Musk was buying Twitter and the Biden administration was asking social media companies to moderate potentially harmful medical misinformation, it felt like every third comment here was someone hollering about free-speech absolutism. Where did all those people go?
I'm sure there's some Republicans on HN. I'm curious why/if you think that, if the public pressuring companies to fire people for some things (what some people call "cancelling") is wrong, it's somehow more appropriate for the government to do it? Or is this just a matter of, "well, they did it for years, now it's our turn" for you? (If you don't actually support this party, consider refraining from sharing your opin…
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Overton Window shift basically. One side used cancel culture relentlessly for even the smallest slights. Now the other side is using the very same tactic. Many people who have kept out of the extremes have now shifted towards the right and those who ignore the shift are finding out the hard way. I advise HN users who aren't aware of what's happening, read up on what Overton Window is and why its dangerous to continue…
This is not normal.
I'm not a US citizen so take what I write below with a grain of salt. I always thought the US to be a stronghold of democracy and free speech. I know, it's a naive view and we know how huge companies and corrupt politicians can subvert the system. But still, I thought it had a decent law system that, although imperfect like any other system, kept things from going back to the dark ages. I don't believe that anymore a…
There have been periods of pause, and even reverse, but two terms of the Trump administration trailing on the heels of the tea party movement in the 2010s have really done a lot of damage at all levels of US government.
By now, so many politicians, lawyers, and judges, are compromised it's going to take some pretty extreme changes to the way people are voting to make an impact.
I don't see that happening in the near future, even if I do see it happening in the long term.
I'm sure there's some Republicans on HN. I'm curious why/if you think that, if the public pressuring companies to fire people for some things (what some people call "cancelling") is wrong, it's somehow more appropriate for the government to do it? Or is this just a matter of, "well, they did it for years, now it's our turn" for you? (If you don't actually support this party, consider refraining from sharing your opin…
But broadly speaking, and this truly transcends partisan divisions, there are very many people whose commitment to free speech only extends insofar as they like the speech being protected. It is actually quite rare to find somebody who will advocate "I think the speech you are saying is reprehensible, but I will stake my life on defending the right for you to say it."
I'm not a US citizen so take what I write below with a grain of salt. I always thought the US to be a stronghold of democracy and free speech. I know, it's a naive view and we know how huge companies and corrupt politicians can subvert the system. But still, I thought it had a decent law system that, although imperfect like any other system, kept things from going back to the dark ages. I don't believe that anymore a…
I'm not a US citizen so take what I write below with a grain of salt. I always thought the US to be a stronghold of democracy and free speech. I know, it's a naive view and we know how huge companies and corrupt politicians can subvert the system. But still, I thought it had a decent law system that, although imperfect like any other system, kept things from going back to the dark ages. I don't believe that anymore a…
Free speech has been under threat at the academic and cultural level for a while now, especially in the 2010's. All of that was a good thing in my opinion, because a generation of college students were able to see firsthand what happens when we try and silence dissent.
This situation is admittedly more dangerous, as the federal government is attempting to suppress speech via governmental subsidies (as far as I can tell, I don't have all the facts).
But this is also an opportunity. It's a moment for those on the political left to see clearly why protecting speech is, in fact, a very good thing. So hopefully the sane people on both sides of the aisle can reflect on where we're at, how we got here, and how we get out of this situation. To me it's clear - we reject both explicit and implicit attempts to suppress speech we don't like, full stop. We don't kill people, we don't get people fired, we don't threaten to withhold funding. We need to collectively agree to do this across the board, for everyone in this country.