Thread by @glukianoff

THREAD: The great @IonaItalia asked me to participate in @AreoMagazine’s #FreeSpeechFortnite, so I wrote a listicle of 12 answers to common, bad arguments against #freespeech. Here’s the short attention span version! 1/14

areomagazine.com/2021/05/25/ans…

First there’s that XKCD comic that people trot out to justify just about any censorship. It wrongly conflates the First Amendment, which is the legal framework for free speech in the US, & free speech generally. It also doesn’t even get the 1A right! 2/14

“Free speech was invented under the false notion that speech & violence are distinct. Now we know some speech is violence.” Speech = violence is one of the oldest ideas in the world. Free speech was invented so people could sort things out without resorting to violence. 3/14

“Free speech rests on the notion that words are harmless.” If words were harmless, no one would feel the desire to censor! Speech in democracy can be heated, because it covers matters of life & death but it’s the way we REPLACE violent conflict in a democracy. 4/14

“Free speech is the tool of the powerful.” In a democracy the majority sets the rules, & those who enforce the rules are by definition powerful. You ONLY need free speech to protect opinions that are minority opinions disfavored by those in power 5/14

“But you can’t shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theater!” @Popehat has already done a thorough takedown of this, but basically, this is a misquotation of a justification used to jail draft critics, & hasn’t been good law for over 50 years. 6/14

popehat.com/2012/09/19/thr…

“The arguments for free speech are outdated.” Saying that is a way of dodging older but undefeated arguments like Mill’s Trident! Check out the video! 7/14

ZERO TWEET: Keep reading for more responses to bad arguments against free speech, or click the link below to check out my review of @ericberkowitz4’s excellent book on the history of free speech, Dangerous Ideas! 0/14

https://twitter.com/glukianoff/status/1390784938266533889

“Hate speech laws are important for reducing intolerance.” Read the full article for compelling statistics showing that European countries that implemented hate speech laws fare worse than the US in metrics like antisemitism & hate crimes. 8/14

areomagazine.com/2021/05/25/ans…

“Free speech is a conservative talking point.” I named my blog The Eternally Radical Idea because free speech is opposed in every generation. Both political parties have claimed to represent free speech while being hostile to it in recent history. 9/14

thefire.org/what-is-the-et…

“Restrictions on free speech are OK if they are made in the name of civility.” Civility is defined by the powerful & the majority. They see speech they disagree with as uncivil, & uncivil speech that they agree with as “righteous anger.” 10/14

“You need speech restrictions to preserve cultural diversity.” Few ideas vary more across cultures than propriety & what constitutes acceptable speech. Preserving diversity REQUIRES high tolerance for different norms of propriety. 11/14

“Free speech is outdated, & it’s time for new thinking.” On the contrary, censorship is as old as our species. As Nat Hentoff once wrote, quoting former @latimes editor Phil Kerby: “Censorship is the strongest drive in human nature; sex is a weak second.” 12/14

“I believe in free speech but not for blasphemy.” You cannot claim to believe in free speech & carve out an exception for blasphemy. That’s the whole ballgame. Free speech is precisely to address the tendency to label unorthodox views as heretical. 13/14

huffpost.com/entry/we-are-a…

That’s it for now, but as the first draft was over 6,000 words there will be a part 2 on my blog!

Thank you @IonaItalia, and @AreoMagazine for the opportunity, and thanks to @AdGo, Sean Stevens, Komi German, and @rynoweiss for helping me put this together! 14/14

BONUS: I will be giving out my EXCESSIVELY PRESTIGIOUS award very soon, but in the meantime, check out my review of @juliagalef's excellent book, The Scout Mindset. 15/14

thefire.org/the-scout-mind…