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That's a hilariously staffed panel in Portland. It was like rolling a powder keg into a barn fire
And, predictably, it exploded for more bad press for the Left.
The entire West Coast, but especially the Northern portion, is getting an increasingly bad rep for extremism. Already this year, a least two major Bay Area personalities are moving away explicitly because of the stifling political climate.
This isn't going to turn around for the Left nor the nation as a whole until they reign it in a touch. Living in civilization is about rational compromise, not Utopian visions.
What the guy in the video is advocating is pretty much what the law is here in the US, where we do have laws against threats resulting in imminent danger, and that sort of thing.
However, we also have "No platforming" at many of our universities and online, which is eagerly implemented and supported by members of the Democrat left, who apparently have come to believe that free speech rights are inviolable for them and those whose opinions comply with the Democrat left's "Political correctness" thought and speech codes, but that non-conforming speech by their political adversaries is "hate speech".
The term "hate speech" here in the USA, as used by these same people, has increasingly come to mean any speech which is in conflict with these far left's "Political correctness" thought and speech codes, which must not be tolerated or given a platform, if they have the strength to impose those restrictions.
Also, as you have seen here in this thread, the absurd idea that if someone is "offended" or "distressed," that also provides leftists with all the justification they think they need to fire people from their jobs, ban them from social media, ruin or shut down their businesses, harass these people at their homes, etc., or just expect them to shut up and submit to personal preferences of the person who claims to be offended.
We are not talking about the possibility of these things happening in the USA. These things ARE happening in the USA and members of the illiberal Democrat left are the authors and ringleaders of these attitudes and these actions. I hope I do not have to tell you that this is not acceptable and that these sorts of attitudes and expectations must be rejected, attacked and pushed back against - hard.
The guy in the video is advocating free speech only to the extent that people are not hounded or their human rights denied. However Laws already existed in relation to malicious or obscene phone calls and were merely extended to the internet, and laws relating to harassment, assault, intimidation, and obscenity, both in the US and UK. There is also legislation in relation to Sexual Harassment and the harassment of people due to numerous other criteria including disability, sexuality, ethnicity etc.
Speech is not free when you threaten violence or issue a credible threat, nor is harrassment, intimadation or extreme obscenity such as revenge porn.
However I do believe in the right to insult, and a mere insult should not be a crime. I also don't agree with 'no platforming' and related nonsense which stifles free debate.
Section 5 of the Public Order Act originally used the word insulting but this was thankfully ammended in 2013 after a long campaign, which was backed by a number of high-profile activists including comedian Rowan Atkinson and former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.
People often misunderstand the purpose of freedom of speech. It's about being able to speak your mind without punishment. Not being fined or jailed for holding an unpopular opinion.
That always seems to get conflated with things like actual violent threats. It's frustrating when people can't distinguish the two.
Exactly:
If someone calls you a name you don't like, you are OFFENDED.
If someone swings a 2 by 4 at your head, you are THREATENED.
The guy in the video is advocating free speech only to the extent that people are not hounded or their human rights denied. However Laws already existed in relation to malicious or obscene phone calls and were merely extended to the internet, and laws relating to harassment, assault, intimidation, and obscenity, both in the US and UK. There is also legislation in relation to Sexual Harassment and the harassment of people due to numerous other criteria including disability, sexuality, ethnicity etc.
Speech is not free when you threaten violence or issue a credible threat, nor is harrassment, intimadation or extreme obscenity such as revenge porn.
However I do believe in the right to insult, and a mere insult should not be a crime. I also don't agree with 'no platforming' and related nonsense which stifles free debate.
Section 5 of the Public Order Act originally used the word insulting but this was thankfully ammended in 2013 after a long campaign, which was backed by a number of high-profile activists including comedian Rowan Atkinson and former Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.
However, it is disturbing to me and I think it should be disturbing to you that the law in the UK ever specifically prohibited insults (at least insults to leftists, because we both know that it was never meant to defend rightists from being insulted), or that there was any reluctance or pushback against correcting that error. This is real Orwellian type stuff that we are witnessing here, and it is being pushed and promoted by the left, for the benefit ONLY of the left.
The fact that anyone could be arrested in the UK effectively for proclaiming quotes from Winston Churchill - even one time - should chill you to the bone. This was no accident and there are a LOT of people both in your country and ours who whole-heartedly support this kind of suppression of speech which does not conform to their specific preferences. These are common tactics by fascists, communists, and totalitarian bullies.... but I repeat myself.
I hope you will agree that this kind of stuff cannot be accommodated or tolerated by any people who wish to remain free in any meaningful sense of the word.
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