[ExI] UK now jailing people for unapproved online posts

Adrian Tymes atymes at gmail.com
Fri Aug 16 19:12:05 UTC 2024


On Fri, Aug 16, 2024 at 1:51 PM Rafal Smigrodzki via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> It is evil to act (e.g. imprison somebody) against speech, because speech
> is not an act.
>
> The only legitimate response to speech is speech, or a refusal of
> association, never an act of violence.
>

What about calls to violence, or other imminent lawless action?

What about defamation, in circumstances where the afflicted is not afforded
anywhere near equal opportunity of speech to set the record straight?

What about giving instructions that a machine is programmed to act
upon, upon perceiving those instructions?

What about transmitting or broadcasting stolen intellectual property, or
other unlawfully obtained information such as someone else's passwords?
(Or personally identifiable information, such as home address, as part of
an indirect call for action, such as a request for someone to anonymously
firebomb a hated person's house or to drive by it and shoot whoever is
there?)

The list of exceptions to absolute free speech, that have been found
necessary in practice to sustain a functioning society, is not empty.
(Even if, with modern building codes and safety systems, literally shouting
"fire" in a crowded theater might not make the cut any more.)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20240816/3d5a3e96/attachment.htm>


More information about the extropy-chat mailing list