01-29-2021, 06:19 PM
bfd wrote:
Unfortunately, all of the notions of curtailing media - of any kind - comes down to the notion of restricting the freedom of speech, assembly, etc. to only the kinds of speech and assembly that are deemed allowable. So then who decides what's allowable and what's not?
Not necessarily. Freedom of speech or the press should not mean that you are not liable for the things you say or publish. That's the pickle we are in now. The social media companies are protected from liability by Section 230. If this was changed radically so that those companies (and the rest of the press for that matter) cold more easily be sued for causing damage as a result of distribution of demonstrably false information we might be able to start rolling back the propaganda disaster that we are currently in. Note that other countries do have some degree of regulation of speech without them turning into fascist states.
Also, don't forget that the US has a long history of controls on free speech that in some cases have been unfortunately dispensed with. For example, the Fairness Doctrine, censorship of what can be shown on TV, etc. Not all of these controls were good, but some were good for society.
I do agree with your point regarding "freedom of guns". That is a ridiculous part of the constitution IMHO.