One of the sites on Rantlister, “The Rantings of a Ninja Viking,” was shut down by Blogspot, due to a Terms of Service violation. While this was merely a violation of the host’s policy, it brings to light an important issue, internet censorship.
Right now, it’s just certain hosts telling us we can’t use their service to post “hate speech” or any derogatory or inflammatory content. But what’s to stop a government agency or someone like the United Nations from stepping in and trying to regulate the internet? Who has the right to tell us what we can and cannot say online? If corporations like Google and the Church of Scientology have their way, “offensive content” would be illegal, and if you wanted to own a website, you would have to get a “permit,” (which would cost you, of course). Are we as ranters going to allow our right to publicly vent to be taken away in favor of protecting those who are oversensitive?
“But what can I do to protect free speech?” EDUCATE YOURSELF AND OTHERS! Let others know what is going on, starting with educating people about how Google is working with the Chinese government to stifle free speech in China. We cannot allow the most basic of human rights to be trampled because someone somewhere might be “offended” by hearing or reading something they don’t agree with.
Support free speech!
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