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Free Speech Debate

This debate/discussion occurred on 22 Sep 2022 at 18:23:22...

This debate was about an issue where: "Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wants to make the internet safer. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and French President Emmanuel Macron have announced new funding for research into social media algorithms. It's the first project under the Christchurch Call."

Me More efforts to stifle free speech on subjects the leftist extremists like Ardern don't like. Not good.

Opponent There is no such thing as free speech, there never has been and never will be. Slander, libel, treason, are all in place to prevent certain speech which are below acceptable standards.

Me Just because we can never get total free speech (and we shouldn't want to) doesn't mean we shouldn't try to maximise it, rather than impose more restrictions.

Opponent Platform algorithms will filter out the hate speech, the slanders and the bullying. Those are already enshrined in law as offensive. Would you prefer that we would curtail such speech from being circulated, or would yo prefer the uses of such speech be dealt with in the court room one at a time?

This person seems to be making my case for me. Yes, there are existing laws to deal with extremes of speech, so why do we need any more? And no, I don't want people to be dragged through the legal system just for saying something which isn't politically correct!

Me The problem is no one knows what hate speech and bullying is, and the censorship already in existence on social media platforms is very biased, so it would need to be a lot better than that.

Opponent I wouldn't say biased I would say inconsistent and mostly applied very lightly.

Me I think there is pretty good evidence of bias towards the left of politics. Hard to prove, I know, but that's the impression I get.

Opponent The mainstream media in in are right leaning when a leftist party is in government, and when a right wing governments is in power, left leaning. NZ mainstream media are hyenas and jackals. They work in packs to corner and consume their pray [sic].

Me I was referring mainly to Facebook and Twitter, which i thought were two companies this was primarily aimed at. Seems they have been equally anti-right during the Trump and Biden administrations.

Opponent Sensibly they were anti right in the instance of Trump because he was way to far to the right for true democracy. That said l, USA politics is truly democracy, it it a plutocracy with elements of democracy.

Me I agree that money plays too big a part in the US, but it's similar everywhere. I don't see the media as being any less anti-right now with Biden than they were with Trump, but it is hard to impartially evaluate these things.

It's difficult to evaluate media bias objectively, because just exactly where is the center now? It seems to have moved considerably, making these evaluations even more difficult.