Comment on Le Reddit Army is Here
WoodScientist@lemmy.world 5 days agoWhat you miss is people aren’t arguing from a constitutional perspective. They’re saying that it’s fucking ridiculous that sites like reddit censor perfectly legal speech while also billing themselves as bastions of free speech.
There is a certain logic to it. If you want to bill your site as a public square, then maybe you shouldn’t censor anything other than speech that is actually illegal. It is not illegal to say things in support of Luigi Mangione. In fact, it’s perfectly legal, and totally Constitutionally protected, for me to go right now and hold a big sign in front of NYPD headquarters saying, “Luigi Mangione is a saint, and I hope to see a hundred more like him!” The law restricts true threats, but those are defined way, way narrower than many on social media seem to think.
People aren’t saying that reddit or other platforms can’t censor content on their platform, they obviously can. But you also shouldn’t bitch about people pointing out the rank hypocrisy of sites that bill themselves as public squares censoring content to serve their corporate overlords.
mean_bean279@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I don’t disagree with some of your points, but I also don’t believe that Reddit really ever said it was a free speech platform. Twitter has for sure (because of Elon), but Reddit has really been a “front page of the internet” believer. They felt more like an aggregator and newspaper. Which definitely has a lot of censoring and opinion blocking in the world of print too. I mean, remember when they got rid of jailbait or space dicks, was that a speech problem? Some felt it was, but it was definitely something we all realized was wrong and that a private company tries to protect its “brand.” Obviously being on Lemmy and leaving after the API change means I didn’t agree with them and I found another place that aligned more with my values.
You holding that sign up though is legal, however only on public property, and only if you’re taking up less than half of the sidewalk and not in the path of traffic. You also cannot use an amplified device (unless you’ve filled out the permit) and your sign cannot be on any wood or metal sticks. If you step onto private property you can be asked to leave or removed. That last one is also something that just like a website isn’t restricting your right to free speech, just that a specific building/business/owner doesn’t want to be in support of it.
In the end, why are we all still talking about Reddit. This site definitely has users that love going back to their crazy ex to fuck and then realizing it’s still crazy like as if it would change.