
Gab forced offline over apparent tie to Pittsburgh synagogue shooter - okket
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/10/gab-forced-offline-over-apparent-tie-to-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooter/
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beat
The older I get, the less I appreciate "free speech". Community standards
exist to protect the community.

We should not just assume absolute freedom of speech is an unalloyed good.
What are the benefits, and what are the consequences? Because in this case,
the consequences are pretty clear.

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billylindeman
It scares the living shit out of me how many people in tech are actively
fighting against free speech.

Censorship is evil. It is a power that _will_ be abused for political gains
(as we're already seeing). That is pretty much a constant throughout human
history. The internet itself was a platform for free speech. That's what made
the internet of the 90s so great. Now look at it. A handful of mega
corporations spying on everyone all day every day, and controlling what
they're allowed to see and talk about.

It's all very 1984, and everyone seems asleep at the wheel.

~~~
beat
There's a rather large gap between "Maybe we shouldn't let people plan
genocide online" and 1984.

And we already accept limits on free speech. For example, can I publicly lie
about someone as "free speech"? No, it's libel/slander.

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justtopost
There is not a gap. It is all just speech. When there are limits placed, then
someone has to decide where they are, and therin lies the rub. It is only
libel when you can show damages, only conspiracy when you make some action
toward the goal, and only a threat when articulated. The laws exist and are
clear.

~~~
beat
Saying "There is not a gap" does not make the gap disappear. Applying limits
to free speech is not absolute totalitarianism, unless the limits themselves
are totalitarian.

For example, if criticizing the government is banned, that's totalitarian. If
saying "All members of group x should be tortured to death" is banned but
criticizing the government is not (unless the government is torturing group x
to death), then it's not totalitarian.

~~~
zerealshadowban
Nobody was forced to visit or read Gab, just as nobody is forced to listen to
what I say to a few friends in my living room.

Do you intend to control the latter as well, in the name of your "community"?

