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[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.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by jmorris on Wednesday July 10 2019, @10:50PM (1 child)
Free speech has to be as close to unlimited as practical or there isn't a point to declaring it a value at all. If you aren't defending speech you find abhorrent, that you totally disagree with, you aren't defending free speech at all; You are just defending your side. So yes, Communists and Nazis both have to be able to speak right along with Americans quoting Madison and Jefferson. And even worse. Islamists, Scientology whacked out cults, all of it. Flat Earthers, Warmists, Scientism, all can enter the arena of ideas. Whether they survive free and open debate is another matter, all ideas are NOT equally true.
Deep Porn is toxic but forget trying to ban it. Far too late. And remember, any new technology is first used for porn before it becomes ubiquitous. It is actually those future uses of this deep learning crap that should be scaring the piss out of you. People have been drawing women with their cloths off almost as long as they have been undressing them in their mind, automating it is only a matter of speed and wider availability. Any attempt to ban Deep Porn will do more lasting damage to society than it will do. You are not required to like reality, only accept it.
Your last line though has a lot of Truth in it. Our Founding Fathers did say their government was only fit for a religious and moral people, that it would serve no other. We are now neither so we will soon be ruled. Hope we choose a good King.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 11 2019, @09:10AM
I disagree.
I'm not sure why deepporn got into this thread, deepporn is not free speech and doesn't resemble it at all. It is at least slander/libel and possibly some form of sexual assault.
So yes, I believe deepporn should be banned and I don't mind police and prosecutors spending time chasing the perpetrators responsible for creating unauthorized deepporn. There are a lot of pron actresses, hentai, ... out there already, if you really want someone specific to go naked and do dirty things. Well, why don't you try and hire them or convince them of that instead of making decisions in their stead? With this technology you can probably create any model you want, so why use real people that have things to lose from using their portret/images?
Just because it is hard to enforce/prosecute doesn't mean it should be legal.
I do mind if they want to force new laws that restrict my freedoms trying to prevent deepporn, and I do mind these proposed restrictions on free speech.