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Comment by xg15 | Hacker News Reader

That's an easy stance to take - I'm sure many oppressive regimes would be more than happy to permit that definition of "freedom of speech": You may say whatever you like, provided no one is there to hear it.

Of course there is no right to an audience. But if the success or failue of finding an audience starts to depend on the goodwill of a few powerful gatekeepers (media/TV companies before and now apparently "platform" operators) then the right to free speech stops to really be worth very much.

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You have the right to say anything you want, you do not have the right to say it in my home. I don't understand how there are so many people that don't understand FOS.

They understand it perfectly - you're conflating the law (the government isn't allowed to prevent you from speaking) with the principle it's based on (restricting people's ability to speak is a backwards, repressive thing to do).

Freedom of speech != the first amendment.

The story talks about an European group trying to reach a global audience. I was making a more general point about how over-reliance on private platforms makes censorship much easier for governments and corporations everywhere. Why do you guys keep assuming that "the law" equals "US law as I understand it"?

I'm sorry but your definition of FOS is radical. I think few people would agree that FOS means you can say anything anywhere at anytime.

I've extended the "in my home" argument to "on my website" before--e.g. Reddit restricting what you can say on Reddit is not really censorship--but stretching "in my home" to mean "on the hardware which you purchased from me" seems like rather a different thing.

> That's an easy stance to take

No that's the 100% correct stance to take. You are not forced to use Apple's products or their walled garden, and they are not required to grant you access.

> I'm sure many oppressive regimes would be more than happy to permit that definition of "freedom of speech"

Can we drop the hyperbole and focus on the discussion please?

>No that's the 100% correct stance to take. You are not forced to use Apple's products or their walled garden, and they are not required to grant you access.

It doesn't matter if you're forced or not. In a world where the majority chooses to use them (for other reasons, e.g. convenience, features, price, etc), the company controlling what's broadcast on them is censorship, and has the same effects as censoring the publishing of a book had in 1700.

If the majority had chosen those platforms with the EXPLICIT goal of avoiding your content that would be another thing.

"...they are not required to grant you access."

They're not granting me access, they're restricting my access to content they don't own. They have no real right to deny me access.

They have no right to deny you access to their platform or to deny content from being distributed through their platform. Something about that sounds incorrect.

What you described is not a right, and they are allowed to control what is or is not in their store. Whether you like it or not.

Well, a black man not being a slave wasn't his right in 1840 Georgia either. Staying in the same hotel as whites wasn't his right in 1950.

It's always better to concentrate at what we think SHOULD be the right or what it's we consider ethical, than merely restating what happens to be the law, which can very easily be BS.

And "whether we like it or not" plays a huge role in having laws changed -- that's where we should be starting from, not waving it away as if we're some kind of non-citizen slaves where things are just forced upon us.

> You may say whatever you like, provided no one is there to hear it.

Freedom of speech does not mean you are granted unmitigated control over the content a private medium, channel, or platform. For example, it doesn't imply that I can force the New York Times to publish this comment in their newspaper, nor can I force NBC to read this comment aloud on the nightly news. Similarly, I cannot force Apple to publish my content on their platform. In no way does this violate of my freedom of speech.

>Similarly, I cannot force Apple to publish my content on their platform. In no way does this violate of my freedom of speech.

Only in the sense that this "freedom of speech" is codified in current law -- and that's specific to the US even, elsewhere can differ.

Other countries for examples don't allow a shop owner discriminate as to who he choses to do business with (e.g. like that Colorado bakery that refused to sell to gay couples).

I'd say it would be good for society if companies having mass business platforms were forced by law to not be allowed to censor anything not already censorable by law already (e.g. child pornography, libel etc).

Freedom of speech in a liberal democracy comes packaged with the right for property. And your freedom of speech does not hold on other people's property.

Not trying to defend Apple, but I find it interesting how many people on HN willingly embraced walled gardens. Thankfully the web is still there, still open and great.

We keep building spaces that we treat as public but aren't. That's a problem even if the individual actions are defensible.

And monitored.

Relevant: http://slatestarcodex.com/2015/07/22/freedom-on-the-centrali...

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