Limits to Speech

there have to be limits to speech / otherwise it'd be a free-for-all / i feel much safer in a fear-for-all

2 comments to Limits to Speech

  • Esn

    If you’ve read Terry Pratchett’s “Going Postal” (or seen the film adaptation), I think the Patrician has the right idea about free speech…

    What is freedom of speech if not freedom from the consequences of that speech? The man facing a religious inquisition is “free” to say whatever he wants. This is an extreme version, but if you plan to keep social company, there will be consequences for the way you act. Every society is like this. It is a fight between vaguely-defined groups of people who believe that a certain behaviour should be allowed, and groups who believe that it shouldn’t. When one side gains the advantage, a certain behaviour (or “speech”) becomes free of negative social consequences. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the laws have changed. Sometimes it just means that the penalties have become ineffective.

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