Kerensa
Closed Account
Re: the OP again, though, I think an interesting question is whether social media, due to the sheer number of consumers/participants, crosses any kind of threshold. By that I mean that while one can yell "fire" at home, one cannot yell "fire" in a crowded theater, because various thresholds have been crossed (number of people, factored by size of space = too dangerous). Or that one can own a pistol but not a 60mm.
Certainly, China is applying this logic in declaring "rumor-mongering" illegal, though the law applies whether the rumor is spread online or offline.
Personally, of course, I'm against repressing speech whether offline or online, and I think China's logic is flawed, or rather the rule applies too broadly and is not specifically tailored enough to be a good law.
Interstingly, CSP spokesman Lt. Paul Vance stated that people conveying inaccurate information online about Sandy Hook would be prosecuted as felons (!). The traditional media had some fun with that.
I think it smacks more of a generational disconnect than anything. Again with the older generation's abiding suspicion of "things computer." Not that they're all unjustified.
Certainly, China is applying this logic in declaring "rumor-mongering" illegal, though the law applies whether the rumor is spread online or offline.
Personally, of course, I'm against repressing speech whether offline or online, and I think China's logic is flawed, or rather the rule applies too broadly and is not specifically tailored enough to be a good law.
Interstingly, CSP spokesman Lt. Paul Vance stated that people conveying inaccurate information online about Sandy Hook would be prosecuted as felons (!). The traditional media had some fun with that.
I think it smacks more of a generational disconnect than anything. Again with the older generation's abiding suspicion of "things computer." Not that they're all unjustified.
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