I think they mean it in the sense that they shouldn't have to. Why do you think they should have to?
Speech that directly causes harm to others is not just about legality.
Normative behavior and ethics are subjective as well. They are also subjected to the whims of the mob of the moment.
If a specific someone (like the author) says I do not want a deepfake porn of me, and someone else says I don't care, I made one ..
Was harm done? If no, why not?
No…if there is no objective legal definition of harm to confirm the subjective understanding of harm in your example.
Yes…if there is an objective legal definition of harm to confirm the subjective understanding of harm in your example.
Letting yourself be an empty vessel for the state to fill as they seem fit sounds sacrificial.
"My rights end at the end of my fist." is a common phrase. And it's demonstrable, due to "christian" society, that nude women are punished socially for it. We even have capture at the credit card companies for buying porn, and prostitution is illegal mostly everywhere. And even events where clothing is optional, is set to 21, and not 18.
I await the day that simple nudity is just that - no clothes. But we're still in basically the 1600's with puritanical backwards thinking that they can't even be shirtless like men, for "sexual reasons". I only think about "nipplegate" back in 2004 superbowl where Jackson's nipple was what, 4 pixels? And people collectively freaked out?
Until our society can fucking grow up from 5th grade antics, yeah, its harm. And you shouldn't need to be told not to harm others, but again, collective age is 11/5th grade.
- If you actually do blackface, you are accountable by current social standards on that matter
- If someone releases a deepfake of you in blackface and doesn't make clear it's machine generated, you can sue them for libel
- If some releases a ML photo of you in blackface and clearly states it's machine generated, you are accountable for nothing and they are accountable by current social standards regarding blackface.
I was talking about personal responsibility in not harming someone else. If your ethical guidance is so broken, you need a law to tell you what you should and shouldn't do, I feel tremendously sorry for you.
Does portayal of blackface harm? Yes, it does to the BiPOC community, with terrible racial stereotypes. So don't fucking do it. Again, this isn't a hard concept to figure out.
If we all tried to do things that even minimally considered "is this thing going to harm others" and not doing it, we would have a better and more respectful society. And no more laws needed.