Whenever I think about what did the most damage to internet culture over the past ten years, xkcd 1357 comes out on top. Not Twitter. Not Facebook. This simple comic.
People, in the main, seem to have lost track of the idea of precedent. They've also forgotten the hard-won lesson that weapons sharpened against the universally reviled are eventually used against anyone seen as an enemy. It starts with Alex Jones getting booted off of YouTube, today it's QAnon being completely banned from Facebook. In another five or ten years, publishing companies may well have political officers from the Atlantic Council peeping over their shoulder on the day-to-day.
Yes, although this will be much, much harder to pull off in America than in any other country in the world. For all the criticism of second amendment, it makes taking away the first very hard.
Substack isn't letting me do it on the image, but I can transcribe it here.
Pane 1: Public service announcement: the right to free speech means the government can't arrest you for what you say.
Pane 2: It doesn't mean that anyone else has to listen to your bullshit or host you while you share it.
Pane 3: The first amendment doesn't shield you from criticism or consequences.
Pane 4: If you're yelled at, boycotted, have your show canceled, or get banned from an internet community, your free speech rights aren't being violated.
Pane 5: It's just that the people listening think you're an asshole.
People, in the main, seem to have lost track of the idea of precedent. They've also forgotten the hard-won lesson that weapons sharpened against the universally reviled are eventually used against anyone seen as an enemy. It starts with Alex Jones getting booted off of YouTube, today it's QAnon being completely banned from Facebook. In another five or ten years, publishing companies may well have political officers from the Atlantic Council peeping over their shoulder on the day-to-day.
Yes, although this will be much, much harder to pull off in America than in any other country in the world. For all the criticism of second amendment, it makes taking away the first very hard.
Substack isn't letting me do it on the image, but I can transcribe it here.
Pane 1: Public service announcement: the right to free speech means the government can't arrest you for what you say.
Pane 2: It doesn't mean that anyone else has to listen to your bullshit or host you while you share it.
Pane 3: The first amendment doesn't shield you from criticism or consequences.
Pane 4: If you're yelled at, boycotted, have your show canceled, or get banned from an internet community, your free speech rights aren't being violated.
Pane 5: It's just that the people listening think you're an asshole.
Pane 6: And they're showing you the door.
Matt, Substack just added alt text and captions support for images, FYI. Thanks for flagging this!
Thanks, I just did. Will let you know what they say.