As many know, I lived in London years ago. At the upper end of Hyde Park by Marble Arch, there is Speakers’ Corner. That is where anyone could stand up and talk about anything that they wanted. You were free to listen or just walk away. There would often be a crowd, and that was not an indication that they agreed. It simply meant that the topic was curious, worth listening to or just entertaining crazy talk.
Speakers’ Corner even shows up on Google Maps, showing that this is indeed a landmark. What is important about this is that Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, especially those who claim to be public forums, also claim they have the right to censor what you say or even think. Section 230 only gave them immunity from suit because someone posted something another did not like. In that context, it was a reasonable grant of immunity. It would be like suing the city of London because someone at Speakers’ Corner said something that offended you.
You cannot be a public forum by deleting people and canceling anyone you do not like. Speakers’ Corner in London is what these forums were supposed to be. If someone is a Nazi and hates Jews, so be it. They have a right to say that just as the rest of us have the right to shake our heads and walk away as in Hyde Park. It used to be an easy world. If someone was talking to themselves walking down the street, we just looked at them as being strange. We didn’t run to the police screaming we were offended by what the crazy person said…
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