The point is that free speech is not always a force for good, hence the use of a dial. This post attempts to address an alternative by taking a deeper look than dial solutions.
I believe that basically it boils down to how much the individuals that make up society are interested in what is true. If you can't get that then no solution will help.
In practice, my impression is that most people who consider themselves free speech absolutists still assume that there is some speech that shouldn't be tolerated. E.g. Child porn, doxing, instructions for making nuclear weapons, intentionally false information intended to provoke violence.
That said, I'm generally sympathetic to the idea that there should be unrestricted free speech in the realm of ideas and political opinions. However, if we want that, then we need to be honest about the fact that if ideas spread in the wrong way then bad things can happen, and if we don't want society to result to censorship as the solution, we need a better answer.
Wow. Really glad to have found this post. You make some great points, especially that premise of yours. Great work
What scares me the most, is that this perfectly cogent article is about 10 years too late and WAY too under-represented....
Free speech either exists or doesn't. There is no dial.
The point is that free speech is not always a force for good, hence the use of a dial. This post attempts to address an alternative by taking a deeper look than dial solutions.
I believe that basically it boils down to how much the individuals that make up society are interested in what is true. If you can't get that then no solution will help.
In practice, my impression is that most people who consider themselves free speech absolutists still assume that there is some speech that shouldn't be tolerated. E.g. Child porn, doxing, instructions for making nuclear weapons, intentionally false information intended to provoke violence.
That said, I'm generally sympathetic to the idea that there should be unrestricted free speech in the realm of ideas and political opinions. However, if we want that, then we need to be honest about the fact that if ideas spread in the wrong way then bad things can happen, and if we don't want society to result to censorship as the solution, we need a better answer.