Chilling Effects

On Friday, March 4th, 2022 at 12:34 pm, Helena said:

This is just speculation but I think tech companies want to control public discourse for a variety of reasons, some of them political, some ethical, and some financial. Big investors may have certain requirements and conditions, after all.

Certainly, at times, the intentions behind censorship are benevolent. Would I want or tolerate someone on here spewing racist, hateful propaganda? No, of course not. That's the kind of censorship nearly everyone would endorse and site owners reserve the right to do it. I don't want any laws interfering with that right. Of course, I also don't want my site taken down.

Those who own and control major sites and service providers should think very carefully about the repercussions of their decisions when it comes to deciding what to censor. Science is constantly evolving. Open discussions with perspectives that may later be confirmed by science should be, in my opinion, allowed. This is not from a legal standpoint but an ethical one.

Likewise, allowing open discussions in which nonsense is spouted can allow adequate debunking.

In general, I don't like censorship but I'm under the threat of losing this site if I don't take certain actions. It's a very difficult position.

You have to do what you have to do.

Lame

On Saturday, May 7th, 2022 at 1:58 am, SirAuron said:

It's not as easy to say when your web site, which is an essential part of a professional web presence, is at stake.

I suppose I could un-hide that controversial thread since I've replaced Linktree with a custom solution and forum updates are no longer posted in the Discord server.

At this point, however, most of the COVID restrictions have been lifted and it's fading from the public consciousness, so perhaps there isn't much of a point to it now.