I wanna start this one off by asking a question. Do you truly have the right to say whatever you want and express yourself online? Does your first amendment right still apply to you in the glorious world of the interwebs?
If you believe that first amendment has more to do with expressing yourself and just stating a general notion of how you feel or what you believe to be true, then it probably seems like that right hasn’t really gone anywhere just because your on twitter or facebook.
On the other hand if you believe the first amendment has more to do with being able to say whatever you want to and not be reprimanded or punished for doing it, chances are good you’ll notice you don’t really feel free to just put whatever you have to say out there.
This blog today is going to have more to do with the line that separates where your 1st amendment right ends as it pertains to online and where it begins.
Now I’m sure somewhere out there is someone going “MY FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED NO MATTER WHERE I CHOICE TO VOICE MYSELF OR PLACE MY WORDS!!!” and despite the dramatic tone voice they are thinking or saying this with I’m inclined to agree completely. But is that really how it works online?
Getting thrown in facebook jail or getting an account suspended on twitter is definitely a far cry from actually facing any kind of legal penalty for breaking a law…but if social media platforms truly do support your right to say whatever you want and express what ever you want…why is content posted on these platforms as restricted as it is?
Not too long ago I found a video (which I posted to the TechSocrates facebook feed) that shows an organization called The Alliance to Counter Crime Online which is promoting the enforcement of social media platforms to become more strict on limiting content. Their argument to this is that the content hosted on these platforms condones criminal activity such as sexually abusing children, dog fighting, drug trafficking, bone trade, terrorist selling looted antiquities (which by the way…I would LOVE to see the logic these dipshits used to determine beyond doubt that the people who were selling this stuff were indeed terrorists) and wildlife trafficking. I then proceeded to ask everyone not to fall for this type of bullshit…and now I’m going to elaborate on that.
I want to start by pointing out that all of these things are already illegal activities. And I don’t want anyone to get this twisted. I DO NOT SUPPORT OR CONDONE ANY OF THESE ACTIVITIES. Posting awareness to the activities online doesn’t make the acts any less illegal. So why then is the focus so fucking heavy on eliminating these types of things from social media? Hmmm….maybe because if we force people to shut their trap about these things online they will stop happening in real life? (Initiating face palm protocol). I can’t imagine someone getting ready to host a dog fight and then going “oh shit facebook won’t let us post the address…guess we’ll just have to cancel the fight”….seriously???
But why is it such a big deal? Wouldn’t there be some advantage to making good ol zuckerburg and the guy that owns twitter crack the whip on some of this stuff? Wouldn’t that at least make it harder for these acts to become as wide spread as they are? Well its not so much there are no advantages to it….its more to the point that this couldn’t successfully be implemented without wrecking ones right to express themselves.
Think about this for a moment: Lets say your an artist…either professional or amateur (doesn’t matter for the example). Suppose you recently decided to do a piece dedicated to raising awareness of the sexual exploitation of children. You put alot of time and effort into the piece because you want to convey the pain and evil in such an act and you hope that your piece can become a symbol of encouragement and hope for those who are either fighting against the exploitation, or those who have unfortunately been through it. Once its finished you want to show the world your piece as an expression of how you see children being exploited and how evil it truly is.
So far there shouldn’t be any problem with doing something like this right? You made the painting and you can easily prove ownership of the content so there really shouldn’t be anything stopping you from posting it on social media….cept that’s not how content hosting ACTUALLY works online. In most cases when you sign up for social media or any truly mainstream content hosting site you have to agree in some form or another (usually a check box or radio button) that won’t post this or that or whatever whatever that falls within the guidelines and community standards.
See if the The Alliance to Counter Crime Online had their way…your painting wouldn’t last 2 seconds online because they would force whatever platform you tried to use to remove your content because it contained criminal activity.
But hold on a second here Tech…this is art and is clearly no way condoning illegal activity. Its just to make people aware of how much sexual exploitation sucks. Surely no Social media would take something like that down…well folks once again…that’s not how the internet works. See the laws intent isn’t to stifle your painting. Its to target Zuckerburg if he doesn’t take it down (and they won’t see a difference between art and illegal activity). In which case he’s going to use the law as an excuse as to why you can’t host your content. The law itself may not directly violate your freedom of expression but it would force social media to incur penalties if they supported it. Which means they would effectively be forced in one form or another to pay for your right to express yourself…or to take down whatever you chose to express. Even though no one is attacking your right to say what you want, they are still forcing someone else to take that right from you.
Now for one of my favorite parts of the show…the oxymoron. The article attached to the video also states and this is going to be a direct quote “The quantity of illegal activity on the internet is horrifying.” I love how this statement invokes such shock, such enfuriation, such passion for justice…and as previously stated…can’t be proven. Even if I made an online flyer that stated cocaine could be purchased from your local post office by whispering the code-word: mincemeat to the clerk, what I did would NOT be illegal. Even if someone were dumb enough to believe it was true the fact that I decided to make that and distribute it can’t be constituted as anymore then a joke that no one was supposed to take seriously. In simple terms…its not my fault people are so fucking stupid they would actually believe such a thing and WHEN WE’RE PROSECUTING THE PEOPLE FOR SAYING WHAT THEY WANT INSTEAD OF THE GUY WHO JUST TRIED TO SNAG AN 8-BALL OFF THE MAILMAN, OUR PROBLEMS HAVE OFFICIALLY EXCEEDED ANYTHING THE FUCKING INTERNET COULD ACTUALLY CAUSE!!!!!
I’d also like to point out one more fallacy in the notion that we can legislate platforms to control their content. Brace yourself for this one folks…its probably gonna piss off a few people but it doesn’t make this any less true…I’m gonna say this one nice and slow so no one gets lost.
The…
Internet…
Does…
NOT…
Belong…
To …
the…
United…
States…
of…
America…
There is no law of physics that says other countries can’t develop an international platform for social media and apply their own laws and regulations to it. There are plenty of other technologically advanced countries capable of supporting the backbone of the internet that could very easily create their own social media or content hosting platforms that wouldn’t be obligated in any way to answer to uncle sams hypocritical BS about we should and shouldn’t have the right to post online. (FYI theres a former FBI director who could tell you all about how American Muscle didn’t save his ass when he attempted to enforce american law on non-american citizens from another country…and before you say it…no…they never set foot over here)
Bottom Line: No one has to endorse or support illegal activity online but you can’t make laws that target whats said online that won’t hurt your right to express yourself. The law doesn’t separate self expression from whatever is on your computer screen. They may not be directly telling you to shut your trap but they are still telling someone that if you don’t they will pay for it. Don’t let that stop you from using your 1st amendment right online. Keep posting your stuff…if one place won’t host it for you then find one that will. Even if its not your own countries platform.
Bottom bottom line: Don’t be scared to express yourself online…even if someone makes it sound “illegal”
TechSocrates 
[I want to start by saying the topics you’ve touched on here are vast, almost infinite in nature. These are very complicated issues that are currently plaguing our society; a LOT could be said back and forth.
So, I will say that I strongly disagree with almost everything you have said, which is a rare event. The subject of free speech is in fact a sensitive issue, a fragile thing that can be damaged and we must do everything we can to protect it. That said, restriction of certain ‘content’ – for lack of a better word – on internet platforms is incredibly important right now. One of the biggest issues we have is the spread of misinformation, and that has largely been propagated by these social media platforms. Elections have been swayed with these tactics. Minds have been swayed by the millions. People have also fucking DIED because of misinformation. Right now, at this very moment, Facebook is dealing with widespread groups devoted to the latest anti-doctor rumors – worms. People are convinced they have parasites, and are being told by the heads of these groups – people who are not fucking doctors – to take treatments that include substances as crazy as turpentine. These people are convincing themselves their children have it, and giving them these treatments. Turpentine, to little Johnny five year old. Should we not try to curb this?
We don’t want to harm free speech, which makes this a tricky fucking thing. Now, you speak of not having the right to say what you want, because this will happen, or this platform can kick you. Well, there has always been consequences for speaking your mind. You tell your boss he’s a fat fuck who slobs knobs all day; you free to do that? Oh yes. Is he free to fire you for it? Just so. We may not own the internet, but we can tell each of these platforms what they have to comply with in order to have their services permitted here. Now, China is not an example of someone we would want to necessarily emulate, but I would refer you to their extreme control over everything on their WANs. They achieve this shit by doing exactly what the states are trying to do here with social media – business deals, and demands.
Also, you talk about how the dog fights continue without people watching. That’s true. However, consider the idea that these people are finding more fans, people who might show up to the fights. People who would *pay* admission. You want to limit funding and attention, do you not? Why endorse that which is morally bankrupt? We do too much of that as it is. You also refer to people being stupid – yes! Yes! YES! That is EXACTLY why we NEED stuff like this. In a perfect world, misinformation wouldn’t work on people, cause they’d see right through the bullshit. But that’s not what we have now. A lot of people do not really have the intelligence to question what they read. In fact, more people place themselves in comfortable ignorance – choosing only to believe that which fits into their idea of a perfect world.
Consider the things I have said. Allow them to percolate. Because I know you, and what you stand for, and perhaps you should step further back from the tapestry to see more of the needlework]
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