A search for Threads content on Twitter currently brings up zero results, despite plenty of links to Meta’s microblogging rival being posted on the platform.
Anyone that cries “free speech” when government isn’t involved at all is a dolt
Musk fans then: finally! We have absolute free speech
Musk fans now: it’s a private company. He can do whatever he wants
Isn’t Twitter’s free speech kinda the same as Fediverse or Reddit’s free speech? Pretty sure if someone says something homophobic or transphobic in here, they’ll get kicked out (which, for me, is good. Keep reading). It’s free speech for the people that align with the admin ideals. I see nothing wrong with it besides the echo chamber effect, but at least people can create spaces where they feel safe.
Someone could argue “but Lemmy also has right wing instances”. Then just imagine Twitter is a right wing instance of Mastodon that has been defederated. And that’s what the free market is about. The free market is a fediverse and a company is an instance, you can create an instance and put whatever rules you want in it. It’s up to everyone else if they want to use it or federate with it. Twitter just “defederated” Threads. How is that different from a Lemmy instance defederating other instances?
Is it against free speech when Lemmy admins kick right-wing people or defederated right-wing instances? I think it is against free speech, but I don’t think everyone needs to allow free speech in their home. Go ahead and kick out the people you consider offensive. I believe Lemmy and private companies should have the right to do this.
I do agree, it’s his company. He can create his own rules. I don’t agree with his rules, so I don’t use the service.
Twitter’s “free speech” rule after the musk takeover was utter hypocrisy and pure bullshit. It was never about “free speech” or, in his own words, “free speech absolutism”. The latter would mean “zero moderation platform”. Wouldn’t take long for it to be nothing but bot posts of scams, hateful shit, pedophilia and snuff. Nobody in their right mind would favor zero moderation. Even fucking chans (4chan, 8chan) have moderation, not even they want to be swamped with even worse shit than they produce.
In short, musk uses “free speech” as a dog whistle and smoke screen.
If they think there are legal requirements then yes they are. But wanting platforms to be more open in general is not necessarily a doltish thing. Yes twitter has the legal right to ban anyone they want, but that doesn’t mean that’s a good thing or we shouldn’t seek out platforms that aren’t so arbitrarily censorious.
When people cry free speech they are invoking the US constitution. They fail to recognize it only pertains to the government.
You cannot claim this on behalf of other people. I myself sometimes refer to lax moderation rules as “free speech focused” moderation. It has nothing to do with the government.
That isn’t to say that some, or even many, people don’t use the phrase assuming that it is their constitutionally protected right to spread vitriol on the internet. But to imply that this is the only common meaning is disingenuous.
Freedom of speech is an ideal before it is a law. Even if we lived in a utopian classless society without a government we could still have the concept that everyone deserves the right to say what they wish.
If it can exist without the government then logically it cannot strictly refer to the government.
