Forums, Facebook and Free Speech

Forums, Facebook and Free Speech

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Discussion

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
quotequote all
Recently a thread in NP&E was closed by Haymarket for not abiding by the Forum rules (this one: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... which prompted lots of tongue in cheek remarks but also some utterances alluding to this being suppression of free speech.

Now with Pistonheads it seems fairly clear cut to me-it's their ball and they choose who can and can't play with it, and how the game is played. They perhaps have to walk a line between ensuring that they don't annoy too many people and ensuring nothing too offensive is posted but IMO they have zero responsibility towards 'free speech' and they can censor what they want on the website if they choose to.

But what about Facebook and Twitter and other massive social networks? Perhaps the same could be said of them-they are commercial ventures and can choose to censor what they like. However for some reason it'd make me very uncomfortable if they began to overtly censor certain political views.
At the moment there are some occasional mutterings about this going on it mostly seems to be small and isolated and those with extreme views that are racist/sexist/otherist that moan about it.

For you do big 'social' businesses have some sort of responsibility to promote/defend free speech? Should they? And if so where would you draw the line at when a commercial venture must preserve free speech, even over it's own business models and views?

mcelliott

8,626 posts

180 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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Yeah I had noticed a few warnings flying around the place recently - ratty as fk they are. Maybe they're on the blob?

Halb

53,012 posts

182 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
It's sometimes difficult to wade through the self-confirming bias crap. I wish we had ignore buttons for members.

voyds9

8,488 posts

282 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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Halb said:
It's sometimes difficult to wade through the self-confirming bias crap. I wish we had ignore buttons for members.
But then most of us would only read our own posts

Huff

3,141 posts

190 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
quotequote all
There is no right to 'free speech' if what you mean is 'you must publish what i rite [sic]'; forum owners - at any scale - are publishers and they own the ball and are liable only in so far as the comment is owned by the poster.

Said notional whinging poster is utterly free to make feelings known in any other medium, letters to press, billboards or actually saying face to face to the person/body concerned what they feel (-somehow, the least likely outlet of the kind of people who whinge loudly about being oppressed on the web). No web forum has to host comments that break their own AUP or indeed, clashes with the owners colour of socks, taste or anything else.

Is there sometimes an odd overlap with 'issues of the day' and 'oh , we can't say that? Perhaps. But rather than witter on twitter, if you feel strongly get up and f'ing do something about it.

Halb

53,012 posts

182 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
quotequote all
voyds9 said:
Halb said:
It's sometimes difficult to wade through the self-confirming bias crap. I wish we had ignore buttons for members.
But then most of us would only read our own posts
hehe

yes

Dr Doofenshmirtz

15,186 posts

199 months

Thursday 11th February 2016
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Twitter is about to clamp down on 'freedom of speech' and Facebook has been doing it for a while.

markcoznottz

7,155 posts

223 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
Says mister professionally offended resident. 'I'm a leftie you can ask me anything but if I don't like the general tone and direction of the conversation il flounce off like a big girls blouse and have a strop. I started this thread, me , not you lot , give me my ball back'.

rohrl

8,712 posts

144 months

Friday 12th February 2016
quotequote all
There are plenty of places on the internet you can go and post whatever you like.

If you want to be a racist then Stormfront will make you feel at home. Maybe the management of PH don't want their discussion forum to have quite the same feel. Seems fair enough to me.

Jasandjules

69,825 posts

228 months

Friday 12th February 2016
quotequote all
Even google and wikipedia appear to disrupt free speech, I imagine most places have a line (and or a stance they wish not to obviate from).

Very, very few people truly accept free speech.

samuelellis

1,927 posts

200 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
After reading that article I know for a fact that content moderation is a job i could not do

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Friday 12th February 2016
quotequote all
markcoznottz said:
Says mister professionally offended resident. 'I'm a leftie you can ask me anything but if I don't like the general tone and direction of the conversation il flounce off like a big girls blouse and have a strop. I started this thread, me , not you lot , give me my ball back'.
He certainly seems to manage to report nearly every thread he's on. Bottom line, the lefties hate free speech it's in their blood.

Digga

40,206 posts

282 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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WinstonWolf said:
markcoznottz said:
Says mister professionally offended resident. 'I'm a leftie you can ask me anything but if I don't like the general tone and direction of the conversation il flounce off like a big girls blouse and have a strop. I started this thread, me , not you lot , give me my ball back'.
He certainly seems to manage to report nearly every thread he's on. Bottom line, the lefties hate free speech it's in their blood.
I think it fair to say control of information is certainly, demonstrably one of the key aims and preoccupations of any extreme regime. There is a limit to discussion at which point it can pass beyond debate into entrenched nonsense. PH didn't pull the thread through censorship, they merely put an end to the nonsense it had descended into.

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Friday 12th February 2016
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Excuse me, I wasn't talking to you. I find your tone offensive which is counter to the rules. Please desist.

Jasandjules

69,825 posts

228 months

Friday 12th February 2016
quotequote all
WinstonWolf said:
He certainly seems to manage to report nearly every thread he's on. Bottom line, the lefties hate free speech it's in their blood.
Wrong. Lefties LOVE Free Speech and will defend it to the death.

As long as it is something they agree with.

Otherwise they want it banned.....

Foliage

3,861 posts

121 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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no such thing as freedom of speech, no idea where people get the idea their is from.. Well their is freedom of speech but you are free to be arrested or censored for what you say.

BlackLabel

13,251 posts

122 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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Haymarket have a reputation to protect - it's no surprise then that they don't want to be associated with the type of posts we sometimes see on the forum.


WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Friday 12th February 2016
quotequote all
Jasandjules said:
WinstonWolf said:
He certainly seems to manage to report nearly every thread he's on. Bottom line, the lefties hate free speech it's in their blood.
Wrong. Lefties LOVE Free Speech and will defend it to the death.

As long as it is something they agree with.

Otherwise they want it banned.....
It does seem odd, the most vociferous complainants barely post about cars. It does make you wonder why they would come here and pretty much only post in NP&E.

paul789

3,676 posts

103 months

Friday 12th February 2016
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cookie118 said:
-it's their ball and they choose who can and can't play with it, and how the game is played.
That's all fine and dandy, but without us using the site to discuss utter sh!te and buy / sell cars, they have and they are nothing.

ewenm

28,506 posts

244 months

Friday 12th February 2016
quotequote all
Foliage said:
no such thing as freedom of speech, no idea where people get the idea their is from.. Well their is freedom of speech but you are free to be arrested or censored for what you say.
A lot of people seem to get confused between "freedom of speech" and "freedom from responsibility for your speech".