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What we mean by freedom of speech

We want to be transparent with everyone on our policies, so we're posting this up for full disclosure so more people understand our intentions with Poal.co

We've built this site on the cornerstone of the principle of the freedom of speech. It's our position that everyone may use their freedom of speech for any purpose except to limit others' freedom of speech. In other words, the rights of each among us end where the rights of others among us begin. The purpose of this ideal is to ensure the most freedom of speech for the greatest number of people.

That's all pretty abstract, so let's talk examples. It would take too much time and forethought to list every example, but we can list a few of them. So, let's say you have a bad actor. Let's call him - I don't know - let's call him John. Let's say John is some Alinskyite who wants to find loopholes in freedom of speech to limit others' freedom of speech. What might John do? Here are some scenarios:

Scenario 1:

John spams the hell out of Poal. His itchy finger presses the "submit" button way too many times as he floods a bunch of unwanted drivel onto /all/new. It pushes off the page the quality content from other people, which folks now must take longer to find and upvote. John has effectively censored other people by forum-sliding them into oblivion. He grins to himself, thinking, "I shore am a smart guy!"

Scenario 2:

John sees an opinion with which he disagrees. "We can't have this!" says John, as he proceeds to research the man who dared not share his beliefs. John finds out who he is, puts together his dox, and spams them to people on Poal. In fear of the ramifications, the doxxed person leaves, and so is effectively censored. He repeats this process with others, silencing them while claiming freedom of speech.

Scenario 3:

John doesn't like the idea of a free speech forum. He sees something illegal someone posted - let's say child pornography - and reports it to Poal. If Poal refuses to remove it on the grounds that it's free speech, John then goes to the authorities, and the authorities seize and shut down the whole platform. Now nobody has free speech. "Haha," mocks John, "you've all been hoisted by your own petard!"

Now let's say we act to prevent this stuff, and we ultimately ban John's account. John comes back on another account and says, "See? See everyone?! There was no freedom of speech after all!" If we don't explain well to folks here what we mean by freedom of speech, they might think, "Hey, John is right! These guys suck!" John then succeeds in his mission of stirring the pot and fracturing the community.

So, instead what we'd do in that situation is explain our thought process to the community and then ban John, after which his manipulations lose their effectiveness. If folks here have other ideas on how to deal with these problems without banning the accounts of the people trying to silence others' freedom of speech, we will hear them out, although the final decision on the matter will rest with Poal.

thanks to @mario for the help with this.

What we mean by freedom of speech We want to be transparent with everyone on our policies, so we're posting this up for full disclosure so more people understand our intentions with Poal.co We've built this site on the cornerstone of the principle of the freedom of speech. It's our position that everyone may use their freedom of speech for any purpose except to limit others' freedom of speech. In other words, the rights of each among us end where the rights of others among us begin. The purpose of this ideal is to ensure the most freedom of speech for the greatest number of people. That's all pretty abstract, so let's talk examples. It would take too much time and forethought to list every example, but we can list a few of them. So, let's say you have a bad actor. Let's call him - I don't know - let's call him John. Let's say John is some Alinskyite who wants to find loopholes in freedom of speech to limit others' freedom of speech. What might John do? Here are some scenarios: Scenario 1: John spams the hell out of Poal. His itchy finger presses the "submit" button way too many times as he floods a bunch of unwanted drivel onto /all/new. It pushes off the page the quality content from other people, which folks now must take longer to find and upvote. John has effectively censored other people by forum-sliding them into oblivion. He grins to himself, thinking, "I shore am a smart guy!" Scenario 2: John sees an opinion with which he disagrees. "We can't have this!" says John, as he proceeds to research the man who dared not share his beliefs. John finds out who he is, puts together his dox, and spams them to people on Poal. In fear of the ramifications, the doxxed person leaves, and so is effectively censored. He repeats this process with others, silencing them while claiming freedom of speech. Scenario 3: John doesn't like the idea of a free speech forum. He sees something illegal someone posted - let's say child pornography - and reports it to Poal. If Poal refuses to remove it on the grounds that it's free speech, John then goes to the authorities, and the authorities seize and shut down the whole platform. Now nobody has free speech. "Haha," mocks John, "you've all been hoisted by your own petard!" Now let's say we act to prevent this stuff, and we ultimately ban John's account. John comes back on another account and says, "See? See everyone?! There was no freedom of speech after all!" If we don't explain well to folks here what we mean by freedom of speech, they might think, "Hey, John is right! These guys suck!" John then succeeds in his mission of stirring the pot and fracturing the community. So, instead what we'd do in that situation is explain our thought process to the community and then ban John, after which his manipulations lose their effectiveness. If folks here have other ideas on how to deal with these problems without banning the accounts of the people trying to silence others' freedom of speech, we will hear them out, although the final decision on the matter will rest with Poal. thanks to @mario for the help with this.

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[–] • 6 pts

[recomment]

Thank you, this is good to hear. Consistent demonstration of our principles make us an anvil on which the shills will bash themselves asunder.

Poal will attract both the shill and the poaler bear for the same reasons.

I'll note that another tactic likely to be employed in the future is "well how many posts = spam?" "how quickly can I post?" Resist specificity, I say... we know the intent of a shill when we see it.

[–] • 5 pts

re Stating my previous statement.

If we make rules then they will be abused, we will apply them and the people who wish to see this site become another voat will claim censorship. They will claim they can’t be banned because no rule was broken.

Things here have to at least for now be taken on a case by case basis, and the intentions of the poster be examined. Intentions are everything when free speech is involved, someone could run into a crowded theater and yell fire. If the person actually believed there was a fire that should be protected speech. If they did it to cause a riot intentionally, then that probably shouldn’t.

[–] • 4 pts (edited )

You're taking the right direction here, PM, and I totally agree. Free speech isn't an absolute anywhere. If the intent is simply to disrupt and destroy what another is building, then it isn't free speech at all. There will always be those whose only purpose is to take what you've done and grind it into the ground. You and your admins have every right to protect your community and mold it as you wish.

So many never realize that we users, no matter how involved we may be are only guests in places like this, posting on your dime. If someone enters for the purpose of disrupting and tearing it down, you have every right to resolve that issue however you decide. They, by the same token, can put their own money on the line and create their own online forum, if they feel the need ... they have no 'right' to demand that they be given a free hand to screw with yours. As far as I'm concerned, you've handled an attack as best you could, and your actions have been appropriate. Keep up the good work, no apologies for what you've done are needed. You're building something good here! Keep it what you and those who have helped build it envisioned.

[–] • -3 pt

"I love censorship almost as much as I love cocks." -Owlchemy