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posted by martyb on Wednesday July 10 2019, @06:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the Free-speech-is-priceless dept.

[Ed. Note: Behind the invective and political slant in this story is a subject that I think could lead to a fruitful discussion. "The price of liberty is constant vigilance." SoylentNews is a little corner of the 'net that tries to provide a venue for open discussion. Are our days numbered or threatened? What can be done? Just keep doing what we are doing?]

France has turned into one of the worldwide threats to free speech

Just over one year ago, French President Emmanuel Macron came to the United States to import two potentially invasive species to Washington. One was a tree and the other was a crackdown on free speech. Ironically, soon after the tree was planted, officials dug it up to send it to quarantine. However, the more dangerous species was his acorn of speech controls, a proposal that resulted in rapturous applause from our clueless politicians.

While our politicians in the United States may applaud Macron like village idiots, most Americans are hardcore believers in free speech. It runs in our blood. Undeterred, however, Macron and others in Europe are moving to unilaterally impose speech controls on the internet with new legislation in France and Germany. If you believe this is a European issue, think again.

Macron and his government are attempting to unilaterally scrub out the internet of hateful thoughts. The French Parliament has moved toward a new law that would give internet companies like Facebook and Google just 24 hours to remove hateful speech from their sites or face fines of $1.4 million per violation. A final vote is expected next week. Germany passed a similar measure last year and imposed fines of $56 million.


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday July 10 2019, @10:25PM (4 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday July 10 2019, @10:25PM (#865534) Journal

    If getting fake porn made of you is all it takes to be a "victim", pretty soon everyone will be a victim.

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    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday July 10 2019, @11:00PM (1 child)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday July 10 2019, @11:00PM (#865544) Journal

    If getting fake porn made of you is all it takes to be a "victim", pretty soon everyone will be a victim.

    Keeping into account that taking pictures in public is something one cannot stop, you are right. I hope you'll enjoy the bodies your image will be grafted on and the activities depicted.

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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 10 2019, @11:28PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 10 2019, @11:28PM (#865556)

    If getting robbed is all it takes to be a "victim", pretty soon everyone will be a victim.

    - yup, I've been robbed before and felt victimized, yet astonishingly I'm sill glad there are laws against theft

    Free Speech Hysterics are no better than "think of the kids" hysterics. With my limited knowledge of the details here I won't make a proclamation, but takyon you are nuts to make that post with a straight face.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday July 10 2019, @11:30PM

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday July 10 2019, @11:30PM (#865557) Journal

      Left unwritten: algorithms could pornify all incoming images AUTOMATICALLY.

      Laws are not going to be very effective here. You don't even have to share the fake porn pics. Just share the software and the source images.

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      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]