Does free speech exist ?

@justanothername Does filtered Opinion go along with free speech ?

@Evolved Filtering your opinion is more about saying what you want to say in a way that people will listen to it rather than shutting you out because they are not interested in the shit the feel that you are talking.

@justanothername I thought you meant it was filtered by others ? to make it more acceptable

@Evolved censoring free speech is what Russia and Iran do to people who speak up about the atrocities committed by both governments against the people of both countries aka if you speak out against the Iranian govt you will be imprisoned then executed.

Moderating online speech is what social media companies do when they remove undesirable comments or block offending users who insist on posting hate speech with the sole intention abusing other users.

@Evolved I think of filtering as rewording something so that what I say to you still gets the message across without being outright offensive to you.

@justanothername Rewording might not be free speech

@Evolved Depending on what you want to say, wording your message in such a way that people are willing to listen to it rather than shutting down and blocking you out. It’s effective free speech.

@Evolved Martin Luther King used free speech to great effect to get his message across on the day that he gave that famous speech to the masses.

Donald Trump also uses free speech for 45 minutes to talk about himself at his Republican rallies when he talks to his diminished base audience.

The difference being that all those people who turned up to hear Martin Luther king talk did so under the threat of having the local police try to shut the March down.

@justanothername Then there is no such thing as free speech ?

@Evolved There is but just be aware that when you shout your unfiltered opinion in someone else’s face that you will have a high likelihood of angering that person who may then want to punch you in the face.
Just because you “can” say something to someone do doesn’t mean you should.
Sometimes thinking before you open your mouth can show your greater level of intelligence.

@justanothername That would mean they don't respect your opinion or they don't understand what free speech is

@Evolved or it could mean that what you just said was highly offensive to them in which case they don’t have to “respect” your opinion.

@Evolved I think the majority of people understand what free speech is. I also think that many people who use “free speech” as an excuse, do so with the assumption that it’s something that it isn’t.

@justanothername in all honesty it should not be called free speech. It should be called " be careful what you say"..lol

@justanothername As you can see it was a misnamed and this should be clarified. Free speech doesn't really exist. Something else does.

@Evolved No, free speech does exist and many countries like Iran, Russia and others don’t allow it. The US does in that you can express your views about any politician online or in a public space and you won’t be arrested or killed for it. THAT is free speech.

@Evolved Hate speech is different and many Republicans are confusing Hate speech with Free speech.

@justanothername So I can say anything ? About anything? I thing you are mistaken . It only works for Politicians or Politics ? Think about it

@Evolved Well here is a test. Go to Russia and voice your disapproval of Putin and see how long you stay alive.

@justanothername I don't need to . Russia have called it exactly as it is. No freedom of speech. If I call someone in USA politics wrongly I could get prison for that. So what are you saying?

@Evolved no you don’t. If you threaten to kill a US politician or threaten them with extreme physical violence then Yes you would be arrested, but threatening with physical violence or death is moved way past freedom of speech.

@justanothername So you can't threaten anybody or say what you want? Doesn't sound like free speech.

@Evolved You can say what you want, yes but no, you can’t threaten physical violence or harm for obvious reasons.

I look at it this way. If someone who didn’t like you threatened to kill you, what would your reaction be?

Remember we are talking about freedom of speech, not freedom of violence. It’s important to make that basic distinction.

@justanothername Exactly. It's not freedom of speech because you can't say what you want. Freedom of speech is being able to say what you want