Why do liberals claim to champion freedom of speech, yet they report you for expressing a different opinion?

Question

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SmellyCat, I'm sure you didn't think this answer through - otherwise you would realize that there are many liberals who are nasty toward conservatives. I mean, John Edwards just called Ann Coulter a ‘she devil’ the other day - pretty much every Hollywood Liberal has came out calling republican fascists, or worse. And, as far as conservative media goes - how about Keith Olbermann - he’s pretty much a liberal clone of Bill Oreilly. (I don’t like either of them.) Anyway, I named one. Can we reopen the case now?

Answer 1

Firstly? As many conservatives report liberals as do liberals report conservatives--this is just an antagonistic board. The report itself isn't censorship. It's giving Y!A a heads-up that something is being said (or more likely, being said in an inflammatory way) with which they may not wish to be associated. As a privately owned forum, Y!A has the right to delete anything they like.

Secondly, liberals champion "freedom of speech," by which we mean protecting the first amendment which prohibits GOVERNMENT censorship of free speech. We do not champion rants by extremists. That's like saying someone who is against the war should allow someone else to punch them in the face, or be called a hypocrite.

ETA: You're right that both sides doing it doesn't make it right -- and by no means is everyone who disagrees with me an extremist! The ones who call names are the ones we have to watch out for, no matter what side they're on, because it doesn't show a lot of maturity or grasp of the issues.

Answer 2

Let's look at this in a broader perspective, shall we, Cupcake?

Many conservatives get their nasty talk and personal attacks from the likes of Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and BillO.

Name ONE Liberal pundit who makes nasty remarks and personal attacks like those people do.

Name just one!

You can't.

Case closed.

.

Answer 3

First, because one has nothing to do with the other.

Free speech (as a constitutional matter) pertains to govt attempts at censorship or regulation -- it doesn't pertain to private forums like Yahoo which are governed by Terms of Service.

Second, because all they are doing is expressing their opinion to Yahoo -- they are not deleting the message itself. So, expressing their opinion is just another exercise of free speech.

It's then up to Yahoo -- as the owner of this private forum -- to decide what happens, since they control what content is or is not allowed.

Answer 4

Conservatives do the same thing. It also depends on if you present you "expression" in an insulting way. There are guidelines on this site.

Answer 5

They champion the right of some (those who share their views) to speak freely but those with different viewpoints are quickly labeled as bigots, racists, hateful, etc. I don't know what causes this strong urge to silence others. In our society we should encourage debate not try to force consensus by silencing those with different ideas.