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by rexreed
1656 days ago
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100% this is the case. People are conflating the rights of those who have rhetorically violent speech to express those views with the supposed "right" of those violent speakers to use a given platform to spread that rhetorical violence. From the perspective of the social media outlets: I can't stop you from expressing your abhorrent views, if it's protected speech, but you do not have the right to use my platform or my loudspeaker or my venue or my publication or my social network to spread that rhetorical violence. The rhetoric might or might not be protected, but the platforms have no obligation to spread that rhetoric. 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. |
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This is the primary problem. "Speaker's corner" has always been the place for insane people to shout. Social media has elevated it to the mainstream. (And made a handsome profit).
Insanity is contagious. What I mean by that is: Mental instability, FUD, conspiracy theories, propaganda, and simple sociopathic narcissism are viruses. No one who has witnessed 2016-present could doubt that. But anyone who knows about 1932-1945 already understood it.
Individuals with violent and malevolvent personality disorders are very capable of spreading their mentality to others. All they need is a channel. Radio and television, in the wrong hands, were used to mobilize millions of people to their deaths. And suddenly we open a channel for the craziest of crazies, and think their mental afflictions won't affect billions of people around the world?
There is no right to be heard. Over all of human history, being heard by the masses has been an extremely rare privilege. Creating a technology that allows crazy people to be heard is frankly the definition of insanity breeding more insanity. Speech is not the problem. Proliferation is.