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Comment by s1artibartfast | Hacker News Reader

Censoring the president hurts the Ammerican people more than censoring a normal individual. Closing our eyes and ears to the presidents actions and statement doesn't make them go away, or meaningfully disincentivize him.

If the president were to announce a racist policy or glorifies a violent military action, we should know.

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This is not about censoring. Putting a warning beside a comment for BS is in fact very effective. Not only it humiliates the bastard, it also keeps a record of his ignorance for the world to see. There’s nothing special about the president. He’s elected by people. In this case it’s not even sure whom exactly since he lost the popular vote by a huge margin. But he’s a human and not above the law. The problem is the USA constitution that has no answers for the possibility of someone like Drumpf getting elected and then tools for congress to control him while in power. When it comes to decisions with big implications, border wall or brexit (in the UK) it can’t be left to a simple majority to decide.

> Censoring the president hurts the Ammerican people more than censoring a normal individual.

I don't buy that a single bit. Any sort of "censorship" on social media of a sitting US President (heck, even a former President) is going to be a major international news event.

I agree that banning trump would be a major news event. How does that relate to my statement that you quoted?

The president can announce war, policies, and executive orders. Normal individuals can not. Preventing individuals from seeing these announcements is obviously more impactful than whatever the typical citizen is saying.

Even if the speech is violent, hateful, or racist, it valuable to see it. Perhaps even moreso because of the content,

Except there's a ton of other channels those announcements also go through, and legitimate announcements are not what people are worried about. Legitimate speech will be seen one way or another.

But violent/hateful/racist speech has no place in social networks, and should be struck down immediately.

If the president wants to express violent/hateful/racist speech, it is even more important the public see it, so that they can judge it and vote accordingly.

I would rather know if the president is a bigot, and their latest misguided thoughts, than not know. I want others to be able to see and judge the behavior as well. Therefore I think the public interest is to provide a free and unmoderated platform.

The solution to a president you dont like is voting them out of office, not gagging them so they appear less offensive. If you dont personally want to see the content > unfollow

So Twitter is now the only way to know that Trump is a bigot, racist and proto-dictator?

This is not what the comment you are responding to is saying, please address those points.

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