The slow suffocation of "free speech"
Freedom of speech is one of the most important freedoms we have - and even though one could argue, that we don't even have this freedom in most of the developed world - it is almost inherently accepted, that we do not have the same freedom of speech online in general, and social media platforms in particular.
Most developed nations has laws and provisions, that prohibit freedom of speech to some extent - be it laws against public racism, bigotry, instigation, or a variety of culturally localized subjects. Even though many, or at least some, of these laws are presented with good intentions; paradoxically, often as in the name of protection of the rights of other individuals or groups.
The obvious paradox being, that we undermine a universal freedom, in order to protect specific freedoms of others.
In the UK, they would refer to many of these laws as "political correctness gone mad" - which I think is a fitting way of describing it.
With a fundamental right to freedom of speech, it is obviously oxymoronic to then legislate what one can or cannot say. Rather than legislate expression, the ideal to me would be, to let people say what they want, and have them stand behind their individual convictions, opinions and words, and the social consequences they result in.
But let's pretend...
Even setting the larger picture aside, and accepting the premise that we do indeed have freedom of speech, this would then naturally extend to cover, say - your own personal blog, or other self-hosted platforms - but NOT automatically extend to cover the social media platforms, that most of us use everyday.
Privately owned Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and so on, heavily curate and judge the "legality" of the content that they will allow you to post - which seems to be rather arbitrary in many cases.
And raising awareness of this fact in itself, simply isn't enough - since we by the same logic and standard of freedom, can't legislate what a private company does or does not allow on their platform - and we don't (in most cases).
The state of social media - from innovation to inhibition
Ironically, the same social media platforms, that were initially praised for their ability to connect and share information freely across the globe, are now heavily censoring, or at least "curating" the content they allow us to share.
Furthermore, the larger the platforms have become, the easier it has also become for authorities to influence what people share as a result. Since the large, authoritative entities can legislate over platforms through general impracticalities, even to the point where they could legislate them completely out of existence in a variety of ways, based on their current business models.
So not only do the centralized social media platforms practice their own form of curation or censorship - they can also be influenced by authoritarian bodies, that wish to inhibit the free global flow of information - and hence freedom of speech - to practice censorships in specific ways.
Thankfully, we already have the tools we need to fight this fight for our universal freedom, and you're using one of them to read this, right now...
Brevity is the soul of wit - and longevity the soul of the contemplative!
#0.0 - Who am I, and how did I get here? [intro]
#0.1 - Who am I, and how did I get here? [pt. II]
#1.0 - How the DeepWeb made me a HODL'er
#1.1 - The power of addiction...
#2.0 - If something seems too good to be true...
#2.1 - Is Bitcoin the exception to the rule..?
#3.0 - The revolution that never came... [Pt. I]
#3.1 - The revolution that never came... Or did it? [Pt. II]
#4.0 - Is Bitcoin doing its job?
#4.1 - Is Bitcoin working... and are you putting it to work?
#5.0 - Why you should spend Bitcoin NOW, no matter what the price is...
#5.1 - The reasons for spending your bitcoin, constantly
#5.2 - Getting the most out of buying bitcoin by spending them - HODL'er edition#
6.1 - Crypto Currency; from anarchism to socio-capitalism..?
#7.1 - Why a $1000 Bitcoin could be a good thing
#8.1 - SaveYourInternet.EU - A last minute cry for action
#8.2 - How the EU will require all "information platforms" to spy on everything you post
#8.3 - How the EU will police what can be said online
#8.4 - The internet is about to become the ultimate dream of a tyrannical state!
#8.5 - Free Speech vs. E.U. a 1-0 win (for now)
#9.1 - The importance of decentralized social networks
#9.2 - The incremental censorship of the western world