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Definitely. I think the main problem modern society (post-internet) is having, is that people have conflated the right to speak with the right (or the recent privilege they've been granted) to be heard, and assumed that if you have one you should automatically have the other. It's never been so. [edit] since you updated... so, it's often been said that "speech" for nazis is a boot to the face, and that's all the words they need. And the truth is that if violence takes over it eradicates speech. A societal commitment to free speech is what allows the victims of threats and harassment and violence to speak out where they would otherwise be afraid to - especially if the intimidating environment is not just one company, but society as a whole. And this is why it's very dangerous, and can possibly breed more violence, to ever say that speech==violence [edit2: people reading "revolutionary books" in prison can be equated with violence by the prison guards]. Yes, incitement is beyond the pale, but in the example you just delineated it's very possible to separate incitement from opinion. Remove "someone should..." &c. Now imagine you're born and everyone you're related to is accused of horrible crimes against humanity, controlling the media, stealing from honest people and drinking babies' blood, and your grandparents' families were murdered by people who said the same thing, and you hear people saying stuff like that every day which is clearly intended to incite people to, you know, kill you. And then imagine coming to the point where you know that preserving their right to say whatever they want about you, however disgusting and evil, is the only chance you have to preserve your own rights as an individual. If you can put yourself there, mazel tov, you're Jewish. And it's natural to wonder whether all that free speech is a terrible idea, so, like all important things it's open to debate. But it's why my grandparents came to America, and they wouldn't like the idea of a law against nazi speech any more than I do. Twitter, of course, is a whole other story. Private enterprise and should be held accountable for every word on their platform. They should banhammer anyone they feel like. |
Long story short, your speech might or might not be a protected right, but your use of a given platform to spread that speech, and any obligations to spread that speech or provide visibility or virality to that speech is not a protected right. One cannot be arrested or detained or sued for simply expressing their opinions, and I agree that even that abhorrent speech is protected. However, a platform can opt to not publish hateful speech, pull the plug on the loudspeakers, prevent the use of their venues, and refuse to promote abhorrent speech. The most effective means for combating hate speech and rhetorical violence is not to suppress the speech, but rather to prevent its spread. In this way the rights are protected without increasing the harm.
You're right that not too long ago, those with rhetorically violent speech would have little access to mass media. They would have to literally stand on street corners with megaphones to shout their messages or print their own publications and then find ways to distribute those publications. Nowadays, everyone has instant and immediate access to mass media whose viewership, ease of spread, and total audience size rivals even the very largest of mass media publications 100 years ago. In the current age where a single viral Tiktok or Tweet can get millions of impressions, the power (and responsibility) of media companies is far greater than ever.