[toomuchtodo]

Platforms have the right as is to deplatform undesirable speech, including code. Social media platforms do this daily (speech, not code).

Freedom of speech protects you from your government. It does not guarantee you a platform.

[DennisP]

So now we'll find out whether this platform is choosing to deplatform this particular speech, now that it's more clear that they're under no legal obligation to do so.

[notch656a]

I don't really blame them if they are. The risk:reward for offering essentially a free service to take legal heat on something this "hot" seems like a bad tradeoff for github. Seems like the kind of thing better hosted on some financially fire-walled shell company's website where any losses from a protracted legal battle can fall off into oblivion.

[sp332]

I think you're talking about the first amendment. There are principles of free speech that go beyond just what's legal.

[toomuchtodo]

Wishes aren’t statute and GitHub isn’t a public good or commons. There are more valuable efforts for GitHub than fighting sanctions on money laundering code. One can always host the tarball on their website, or the code on their own Gitlab instance. Very common in the edu space.

[phpisthebest]

Freedom of Speech is a principle, a concept, a philosophy. Not a Law

In the US, the 1st amendment prohibits the US government from infringing on a persons natural right to free speech.

"Freedom of speech" is not a law, or provision. Pointing out that a platform "has the right" to violate peoples freedom of speech (and yes it is an infringement of the principle) is both obvious and pointless. People that actually support the principle also have the right to express their deep disappointment that GH would abuse their position of power, abuse the privilege bestowed upon them by the community of open source developers by cowering to the US government and refusing to stand up for the principle of Free speech

[absolutelynobo]

This is literally wrong. The first amendment is as much a law or statute or provision as any other law or component of the Constitution.

[phpisthebest]

That is literally what I said...

First Amendment is the application of the principal of free speech to law

However freedom of speech is also a larger principal then just the first amendment. People seem to only want to focus on the first amendment and government censorship as if that is the only type of censorship

[oceanstone]

Obviously, GitHub is private property