How do you define freedom of speech and how much has it been curtailed by others on Yahoo! Answers?

Question

I am asking this because I was just reported for daring to question the validity of the Kennebunkport report. So much for the freedom of speech that others(including the poser of the question) profess to love and stand up for! How many others have run across this?

I realize that Yahoo is owned by a corporation etc. But I have noticed that they are wildly inconsistant with their policies and who they decide to penalize. I probably will move to another board where I can actually have some form of discourse rather than watch the "reporting wars."

By others I mean other members of the website and not necessarily the corporation itself.

Answer 1

Freedom of speech (as it appears in the U.S. Constitution) assures citizens of their rights not to have their speech infringed upon by federal or state law.

The legal concept of "freedom of speech" doesn't apply to private companies or corporations. Yahoo can legally restrict speech all it likes on its forums to maintain what it sees as a reasonable standard of civil discourse.

Answer 2

Freedom of speech means that the government can not pass any law that prohibits free speech. It is not a concept that applies to a privately owned and operated computer network.

Y!A does not have a violation type for asking questions about the validity of the Kennebunkport. They do for many other violations of the community guidelines. The type of violation would have been listed in the violation e-mail. Without seeing the original question it is not possible to determine what the violation may have been. If you feel the notice was unjustified, you can challenge. They do reverse the decision on occasion. If you wish, you can e-mail me the original question (word for word only) and I will give you my opinion of why it was removed.

Answer 3

I live in the Capitol of repression called "Oregon" many States are taking their ideas from this socialistic state. It was said when I was a child by a great leader that the natural progression of capitalism is communism. All things that we raised hell over in the 70's about Germany is now common place in America. The laws then that protected our freedoms are being changed to bind us, and limit us. How do I define it. There is no longer freedom of speech. When we could no longer say what we want without consequences we lost that freedom. Now is simply a false sense of security that will eventually bite you on the butt if you step off the path.

Answer 4

The first amendment only forbids Government from interfering with free speech. Yahoo is not the government, thus can censor what ever it wants. Also, Free Speech doesn't give you the right to be heard.

EDIT: I think it is stupid to report people. But you can chalk it up to liberals getting ahold of our education system, the ACLU and those who are easily offended. I am a conservative and believe if you can't take being offended then stay in your house. Don't turn on the TV don't Answer the phone, and Don't turn on your computer.

Answer 5

Well by the time this answer post there will a few that blame conservatives and some that blame liberals but the truth is somewhere between. There are plenty of trolls that just love to push the report button and yes there are a few conservatives and liberals that do the same but it is all silliness when you get right down to it. Didn't cost us anything really and of course you can always refute by posing your reported post as a question!

Answer 6

According to Harper Collins dictionary Free is:able to act at will,not under compulsion or restraint,not restricted or affected

It is my understanding that with freedom comes responsibility; the way most people contain themselves when angry in front of children by not being vulgar.

Although America was founded in trust of the goodness of it's people, we have evolved to no longer respect truth 'a priore but instead rely on spinning the facts to fit our purposes. This is the failing of our democracy in that the responsibility has transformed from the good of the nation to the good of those in power and their wishes.

The only thing I think we can do to restore this admirable experiment of democracy Is allow it to flounder with the ambition of learning from it's failures in coming generations. It's all evolution.

Answer 7

It's tough... I have had perfectly reasonable and valid questions and answers removed.

I think Yahoo needs to rearrange something in the reporting system.

It doesn't work well in the Politics section or the Religion section... Too many heated 1-siders are abusing the "report abuse" button.

I think the way Yahoo percieves it is - "We are a business who is beholden to advertisers first. Therefore, whatever enough people don't like will be deleted... that way we have higher numbers to show our advertising sponsors."

But it doesn't take a genius to realize that if intellegent debate goes away, so will the users.

Answer 8

Yahoo is a privately owned organization - you are not entitled to freedom of speech on Yahoo.

Your right, its lousy that people are so quick to report others for posting things they disagree with. But thats just part of Y!A, unfortunately.

Answer 9

Alli yahoo answers is part of yahoo.com. It isn't government owned its private enterprise. There is no law saying they have to allow anything at all; as a private enterprise they can allow only what they want on the yahoo answers or any other part of their web site. Free Speech Laws (US 1st Amendment) do not apply to private entities - only to the government.

Answer 10

PLEASE there is non!! In school you cant do petitions even though in the bill of rights it clearly states freedom to assemble and petition etc. On the Internet you get reported if you talk your mind, in the "real'' world. people call you names if you say what you think of others openly and don't hide your opinions like everyone else {even if you say it nicely} yet they let does People. from the kuklux clan rant all they want on TV. ya please don't make me laugh that freedom of speech stuff in the u.s. is just another one of those things where it "depends" if your the right person to have it. Its like this: Ya your FREE to talk but don't hold others responsible for the consequences." Of course it IS only that the gov. cant out you in jail for talking how youd like etc.