So what are the reasons why censorship is a good thing? Basically, telling people to shut up is a good thing argument. As for me, I can't really come up with anything, but what do you think? Bring out your inner authoritarian.

7606032

Well people who are advocating overthrowing the government are a genuine threat to national security and need to be silenced in my opinion. The same goes with those who are advocating killing anyone, whether they are an elected official or not....of course this would not apply to movies advocating killing fictional characters in said film or other work of fiction but if let's say you have some clown on youtube going out advocating killing people, silence the fucker....and send law enforcement after them while you're at it.

7606051
Okay, but what if the government is an oppressive regime? Should the people lie down and take it or resist? An example, Nazi Germany invades France during the 40s. Another, Communist Russia.

A fictional example: Combine from Half Life. Goal: the genocide of the entire human race, and forceful transhumanism.

7606053

Ok, you got me there. Those are instances that didn't even cross my mind.

7606032 People are stupid, so people say stupid shit. And other people are stupid as well, so they believe the stupid shit. And everybody just gets dumber and dumber as a result of free speech.

Free speech is like allowing kids to teach instead of the teachers. Sure, you might get a gem here and there, but half of the curriculum would be just about how to craft stuff in Minecraft and people wouldn't even learn how to write.

7606032
It often boils down to semantics at a certain point, which makes it difficult to discuss that word.

Should we be allowed to lie? MSM all over the world is allowed to lie as much as they want, as part of being "Free Press", unlike private citizens.
Would laws that require MSM to reveal and reference primary sources, and stick to the truth, be regarded as censorship? (They certainly claim it is.)

Instead of arguing censorship or free speech, I would like to focus on the main problem: Lies, spin, and misrepresentation of facts.

And to make it fun for MSM, we should not hold private citizens to any standards, since we can't incarcerate every Flat-earther, believer of ghosts or fiber-diet fanatics. We should only demand the truth from multi-billion dollar companies currently immune to justice due to their political influence.

7606032
Even though I have a mild authoritarian streak (though it's only limited to enforcing site rules), I honestly can't think of a reason why free speech is bad.

That said, if people were lying and/or trying to present their delusions as facts, then it would be a wise idea to shut them up.

7606051

let's say you have some clown on youtube going out advocating killing people, silence the fucker....and send law enforcement after them while you're at it.

Or if they incite an insurrection and then throw their followers under the bus.

Heh. I can honestly picture Trump with a megaphone rallying people to storm Twitter as revenge for permanently suspending his account.

7606032

The only situation I can think of is an extreme scenario when someone tries to use misinformation as a weapon. The crisis we have on the Polish Eastern border right now - with thousands of immigrants being brought by the Belarus government to 'invade' our border - may be a good example where limited censorship may be necessary... but it comes with pros and cons - and you cannot maintain it forever...

Aside from some limited censorship in extreme situations, I don't think constant censorship is correct... EVER. That's because it ALWAYS comes down to someone deciding what can and cannot be said, and that's hella DANGEROUS!

That whole discussion reminds me of a quote from Odo from DS9:

The same applies to speech. Ask yourself a simple question... would you rather be able to speak what you want even if SOMETIMES it's nonsense? Or would you like the government to take that freedom from you and control what you can and cannot say because sometimes what you say CAN BE nonsense? I choose the former .

EDIT:

Also, Free Speech != Freedom of knowingly lying != Freedom of the Press! People often treat these three as one and the same, and that's NOT the case.

• If you say, "Joe is a thief!" but have no proof of that, that's NOT free speech, but defamation and Joe can sue your ass for that!
• If you have proof that person A attacked person B but decided to call A a victim and B a perpetrator, that's NOT free speech, but defamation and B can sue your ass for that
• And the freedom of the press doesn't mean (or should not mean) that news channels can say whatever they want. If they spread misinformation, they should be sued just like anybody else

When racism and hatred of religious minorities and hatred of women is whipped up. Such things have led to race riots or worse in the past. Had Hitler been gagged early on a lot of people would not have been shot, gassed or otherwise murdered.

Okay, bear in mind that what I am about to say dosen't represent my actual opinions, but I thought I would give this a shot and play devils advocate. Hate speech can often lead to hatred, violence and even genocide and must be suppressed to encourage civility and tolerance.

7606583 Ban Fluttershy from all social platforms!

7606388
Not necessarily. Another leader may have ended up running Germany down a similar path.