Quote:
Originally Posted by Linus
I wanted to find out from others, particularly Americans, the definition of "free speech". I often see (mostly in forums) people crying out how their freedom of speech is being violated when some mod or someone else "thumps" (for lack of a better word) them in conversation. While I love hearing others opinions, I recognize that "free speech", as per the Constitution, is about the gov't silencing someone and not a private forum.
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This is one of my pet peeves and has been for the two decades I've been online. People seem to interpret 'free speech' to mean "I can say any damn fool thing I want and no one can disagree with me!" Of course, if that were true, it would abridgment of the free speech rights of everyone else. Fortunately, that's NOT what the amendment says.
I keep thinking that I should add to my quotes file boilerplate around the following lines:
"I, as a private citizen, cannot meaningfully deny you your free speech rights. I am not the government. You have the right to say whatever you wish. I have the right to disagree with you."
Quote:
From the US Constitution:
What puzzles me is how this was translated for the Internet and meant that one could talk about anything. Granted, the original inception of the 'Net was to share information (originally scientific and then into various star trek newsgroups like alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die), I'm not sure it was meant to be so open as to let anything go.
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This is a fascinating question and one I'll have to ponder on.
Cheers
Aj