Protect Free Speech

Freedom of speech is being eroded in front of our eyes. If we have disagreements, we should be able to discuss them. In our polarized country both sides cheer on censorship of dissident speech until it happens to them. We now live in an online world with tech companies setting speech policy, anyone can be cancelled at any time. Voices on the right and left are now silenced with impunity. This includes shadow banning, account throttling, search result and feed algorithms, and outright banning.

We have clear definitions and court precedent for what is protected or unprotected speech. We have laws on the books that can be used where necessary. Instead we subcontract what is 'safe' to big tech.

Press freedom is under direct attack in the prosecution of Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, who spent 5 years in prison fighting US extradition in the UK. His 'crime' was exposing US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gonzalo Lira, a US citizen and journalist, died in a Ukrainian prison in 2023, and US politicians said nothing. His 'crime' was reporting on corruption in the Ukrainian government.

Freedom to freely assemble and protest is under attack with the RICO case pending against 'Stop Cop City' protestors in GA and the crackdown on recent protests on college campuses. Whether of not you agree with their cause, you should fight like hell for them to be able to freely express it. Otherwise, what will you do when you want to protest a corrupt government?

If we've set the precedent that you cannot protest power, we've lost our power. If we cheer on censorship, it will eventually come for us.