this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2023
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That was Voat. Voat, feature-wise, was like a better reddit. But then they (I think it was like one guy administering the whole site) stuck to "freeze peach" and it quite quickly turned into a cesspool. Like on Day 1. And of course reddit tried that, too from time to time when it was convenient. But as soon as it was inconvenient, like when the media found out about the JB, FPH, etc subreddits, free speech was off the table.
Free speech - as it's understood in the US - concerns one thing: Governments. People literally have no free speech in any other regard; certainly not on privately owned/operated websites. Unless it's their own; and it's never their own, because no one would visit it.
I always wonder if these free-speech-people have ever tried yelling profanities or slurs at their boss or customers at work. The answer is of course they haven't for the vast majority, because they know that yelling back "FREE SPEECH!" wouldn't stop them from getting fired on the spot. But it's the same principle. So it's weird to me that people think they have some fantastical "right" online to get away with saying anything.
Yep... people usually interpret "free speech" as "freedom from the consequences of my speech," but it's never meant that.
It's not even that complicated. To these people, "free speech" only means that they believe they should be allowed to scream slurs when they want to make someone feel afraid or worthless. That's literally the only thing they really want to use "free speech" for.
People need to realize that free speech only protects you from the government. We don’t have to listen to speech we don’t agree with.
I'm not sure what's more painful, American Free Speech'ers who don't know it has no relevance outside being free of government censorship, or non-Americans thinking it's some universal truth.