"Yes, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but what right does a person have to share that opinion if it causes harm to another person?"
It's rare that someone says so plainly what they mean: If I don't like what you say, you shouldn't be allowed to say it.
Words -- labels -- are thrown around very carelessly. If someone cracks
a joke and someone else feels offended, it is "harassment" or
"bullying" or "harm". In reality, it's neither, but by attaching those
specific words, "I felt insulted" is put alongside sexual harassment and
stalking and assault.
That quote came about in reference to a
Facebook page which posted images of obese persons in costumes. The
page was likely mean-spirited. It was insulting. Did it rise to the
level at which we say, "You aren't allowed to say that?"
In the
meat world, there are lots of public spaces. In the public spaces, the
1st Amendment to the US Constitution permits one to say nearly anything
they want. And someone is allowed to respond in kind -- in speech. Those
public spaces are bordered by private spaces where you can continue to
speak your mind, without needing to share the space. You're allowed to
express hate for anyone. Blacks. Jews. Gays. Women. Immigrants. You can
say some pretty vile stuff. Your right to say it is codified in our
primary legal document.
On the internet, there are NO public
spaces. Everything is private space owned or provided by someone else
and you have no rights. If they don't like what you say, they can find
someone in the chain -- the forum, the hosting provider, the ISP, even
the DNS registrar -- who will pull the plug on you rather than deal with
whatever harassment or bullying they get from the people who don't like
what you say.
Yes, some of it rises to actual harassment and
bullying. Filing a complaint is one thing -- going onto forums to
badmouth the company, contacting business partners, trying to cause them
enough harm that they'll do what you want, that IS bullying. It IS
harassment.
And yet, because of the internet, you don't pass
anything you don't choose to. There's no issue of sitting in the park
with your kids and seeing hateful signs across the street. Those kinds
of borders are entire walls on the internet. You cannot see through
them. If you don't like a Facebook page, you don't have to click on it.
That's it!
Or, at least, it should be. However, rather than
making the personal choice to avoid something, rather than fighting
speech with more speech, someone tries to make enough noise, disrupt
operations enough that someone in the chain says, "Enough!" and yanks
the page down.
Because if what you say harms someone, what
right do you have to say it? In the real world, you have every right. On
the internet, you have none
Labels: bullying, constitution, convention, cosplay, facebook, first amendment, free speech, geek, harassment, internet, nerd, science, speech
Beware of FREE (part 2): There's no such thing as a FREE account.
I previously wrote about dangers of relying on "free" services because you relinquish control (and effectively ownership) of your property to the administrators of the services.An economics teacher of mine repeatedly lectured that "There's no such thing as a free lunch." We don't exist in a vacuum and everything has a cost, even if you don't see it. When you sign up for a "free" account (like the Google one I'm using now) you're paying for that account, but not with money. Usually, you're paying with personal information. There is plenty of in-depth coverage of what websites do with your information and that's not my focus.
I just want you to know,
it's not free.
Every "free" service you use is using you in return. Every time you connect two discrete facts together by "friending" someone on a website or listing your favorite books or reveal anything about yourself, you're paying that company for their service. There are billions of globally known facts about you; what isn't known is that
you are always
you. How does a company distinguish the John Smith who likes Ford Mustangs from the John Smith who likes sushi and also know that the first one is a vegetarian? They know it because you tell them. That information now belongs to them. You're
paying them for their service.
In perpetuity.
Labels: facebook, free software, internet, linkedin, livejournal, myspace, privacy, web 2.0
The internet is creepy.
I took a look at
LinkedIn's suggestions of who I might know... the first person (non-alphabetical list) is a girl from whom I only bought something a year ago. Never met her in person; only had a few phone calls and a few emails. That's it.
I guess I was on a contact list that she uploaded... and I'm pretty disturbed that the internet knows about that vague and temporary of a relationship.
Labels: internet, linkedin, privacy, social networking
Italian censorship goes well with a nice Chianti
"Marsha, we are committed to fighting terrorism in any form across the world. Next question, Bob."
"Mr. President, Italy will begin requiring any who publish on the internet, including news editors and bloggers, to register with the government. Many view this as censorship which intends to use fear to silence political critics. What is the White House reaction to this news?"
"Italy and its people have been committed to the war on terror and I think we should support all attempts to subvert democracy. I mean, support all attempts to censor those who subvert democracy. Also, I'd like you to go with these men from the Secret Service. They have questions about donations you made to the ACLU."
Mussolini would be proud.Labels: censorship, internet, italy
QOTD: Empowerment of the Individual
"Everything that is good about the Internet, everything that differentiates it from television, is about empowerment of the individual. I don't want to be a part of an effort that could result in the elimination of all that."
Jamie Zawinski (jwz), netscape and aol, 31 March, 1999
Labels: aol, empowerment, internet, jwz, netscape, qotd
