This is a simple, quick, post. I'll get straight to the point. CLICK AND READ THIS. IMPORTANT MESSAGE!
FREE SPEECH. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION. IMPORTANT VALUES, BUT WHERE??
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Consider these things:
- Youtube censors its users with monetization restrictions based on content uploaded by its users.
- Editors of main stream media either script or edit what is published or broadcast on its network
- Reddit and twitter, and facebook will moderate the content uploaded to their networks.
Now when someone hears "free speech".. and someone complaining about it, they must think they're doing us a favor by regulating hate speech which normally would be a good thing.
Most people don't want to go on their computer, surf the internet, and accidentally hit hate propaganda, racist stuff, child pornography or other evil messed up junk.
HOWEVER
We have a NEW problem.
The internet favors advertiser-friendly content.
Which changes the the news you hear, the youtubes you watch, the tweets you see, and the facebook stuff you like.
Back on the old days, we use to hear things like "This is not suitable for regular TV"
...so they'd have special "pay-to-view" pornography channels, or other ways to get the content you wanted. (As far as I know, very few advertisers would advertise on pornography channels or pay-per-view channels)
...but now something different has happened to the internet.
Censorship and incentive to talk in a free and open way is shunned upon. Unless of course, it is advertiser friendly.
I've watched some of my favorite youtubers close their channels. "I'm no longer getting compensated with monetization... so I give up. I'm not posting my latest rants and raves anymore, because it isn't advertiser friendly"
Incrementally, and slowly, the face of society is becoming regulated.
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We're back to the old days where everyone wears a suit and tie to work, and they come home to a white picket fence.
- Reference: Leave it to beaver
There are problems in the world, and none of them can, or will be solved, if we lose touch with reality and free speech
Platforms like steemit give us a chance, which Dan Larimer intended, but even our speech can be hindered with those people who insist on taking money out of the system with bots and vote buying.
Now to be fair, I understand vote buying. I've done it myself, and will continue to utilize these resources. They help the unnoticed get noticed. They offer a fair trade, so I don't fault them.
..but when free speech becomes monetized for popularity, that is an issue too...
..I am writing this post for everyone who has an opportunity to read it, to take sincere notice... and if you were that interested to start reading this... you are the exact person I am talking to... YOU
The world has gotten itself into a pickle. A knot. A bad situation..
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Where every single place you turn, there is "advertiser" friendly content. At some point, we become robot-like humans who suck up all the "advertiser friendly" good news, and "edited for TV" and "edited for online media" news...
...and what ends up happening is an illusioned public that has no idea of what the real world is doing and what we should be talking about.
It's the same problem as adults being lulled into false expectations like an uneducated 3 or 4 year old that waits for Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, or the Easter bunny to come visit again, and fix things.
We're losing our freedom of speech every single of day. We're being moderated globally. You won't notice it unless you look for it.
- STOP and THINK. Give yourself 30 full seconds to ponder what I'm talking about. Stop scrolling, stop reading. Just pause, and think. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?
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..and those people who think it's for the better... as long as your agenda gets filled. I warn you all.. This may good for you, and the general public interest agenda. It's not good for the human race as a whole.
For us all to survive successfully, on the same planet... people must feel free to speak their opinions about major subjects... because when something is wrong, it's wrong.
People will say:
- I can't talk about that in this video, youtube would de-monetize me
- I can't put that out on twitter, my account could get suspended
- I can't write that on facebook, someone could open a complaint and it would be deleted
- I can't write about that as a Journalist, my editor wouldn't approve it
- I can't say that as a news anchor, I have a script, and I'd lose my job
...it goes on and on...
I've seen the downward spiral of civilization. Society can get dumber and dumber (aka the movie)... The rich can get richer and richer... but there is a cost to everyone....
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...at some point the human race becomes a bubble much like everyone thinks bitcoin high prices are a bubble...
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When any bubble bursts it hurts everyone. Those directly involved and those not directly involved.
Let's be mature about the human race and freedom of speech. When we lose sight of the fact that important issues and opinions are no longer getting the voice it deserves.... then I tell you this...
If you live on this planet, and care about earth... the more freedom of speech gets moderated because it is not "advertiser or editor friendly"... the more we lose the only thing that can help us all.
What do you think?
...if you care, upvote, comment, re-steem or share...
If you don't care... well then this post just becomes a blip in the wind, and we're going to ride the roller coaster of life together to a bitter end. :(
It may be to YouTube's own detriment, ultimately. It doesn't seem like a good way to run the site.
But I don't see it as a freedom of speech issue. If I have a website, I can control it and decide what shows up and what doesn't. YouTube shouldn't be stripped of this just because it's big.
I wonder if they actually sense the paradigm will shift soon enough (to decentralized platforms). Tailoring it to "advertising friendly" presumably makes more money from advertisers, but likely makes the platform worse. So it's short-term gain for long-term tradeoff. Which usually isn't so good but it's great when the curtain is closing.
Yes, anyone can have a website dangling in the wind.
Youtube is an aggregator of content, and has a bigger responsibility to seek fairness with that responsibility.
So there are different standards based on when the website is deemed to be "an aggregator of content"?
Do web forums in your view have no right to moderate?
Subjectively YouTube probably should have better policies, sure. But in principle they should be able to make whatever policies they please for their website, and people can share content elsewhere if they pick bad ones. And a different ubiquitous platform would emerge.
At the end of the day YouTube creating their exact set of policies is a form of speech and expression. So I don't think you can strip them of this in the name of free speech.
For the record I agree that YouTube's policies are generally bad and encourage a sort of watered down lack of expression. I just technically do not see it as a free speech violation.
You make a valid point @full-measure. Does Youtube or anyone else have the legitimate "right" to censor or moderate their own platform's content as they desire?
Seems like a double standard to say they don't but individuals do.
However, we must recognize the power massive collectives like youtube, spacebook and twitty have in directing individual's thinking and by induction the way society thinks. Those that control the narrative steer society as long as people refuse to think for themselves, which is most people these days.
The main problem is most people don't think for themselves and defer their personal responsibility to others. The problem is order followers. It is an understandable problem given the huge volumes of info and decisions people are faced with daily. Division of labor is a useful tool, as are hierarchies in some situations but not all.
The more individuals avoid taking responsibility for their own actions and accept without question what someone else says is true or wants them to do the closer we are to totalitarianism and the excuse, "I was just doing my job, following orders - I'm not to blame".
Free speech violation? Did I ever mention violations somewhere, if so, I apologize.
I never intended anyone to think I said youtube was violating free speech laws.
Title: FREE SPEECH -- You've heard the term, but I doubt anyone knows how rare it is anymore.
Clearly he's saying SOMETHING along the lines of YouTube's actions being contrary to "free speech", whether or not I followed his point perfectly.
It depends what examples you're referring to and what you mean by "ok".
But they're not free speech issues.
Just as a matter of how Steemit works and what we're signing up for when we use this as our platform to say something, people have the option to use flags.
It's just one version of free speech happening, whether or not the flags are desirable or polite or we should oppose them etc.
Let me know if you have any more brainbusters.
Hey I totally agree. Nice of you to speak up. Civilization is on a way down and it seems somehow impossible to stop the downward trend.
Free speech is a key but also manipulation. Many people dont see reality. I dont know how to solve this but I can tell you, you are not alone. There is people that think this way and also see that it cannot go on this way. Maybe thats a sign of hope. We had exactly this discussion in the office at lunch break last week.
J
Awareness is the key to stopping it. Awesome comment. Please upvote jjb777
Yep: that's the way it's going. The grey flannel suits are long gone, but the grey-flannel mind is coming right back.
Significantly, the folks who support the new grey-flannel mind never tire of attacking "the '50s." Just goes to show ya that the old warning has truth: "When fascism comes to America, it will come in the name of anti-fascism."
It's an old trick, but it works.
I can appreciate the corporate political dynamic of the union v. management operations. In my experience it was counter-productive to the overall health, welfare and pocketbook of the common worker bee. We are but lambs for the slaughter in so many ways today if we choose not to educate ourselves. I feel prepared as a result of such experiences, yet disheartened to an unimaginable degree, choosing to live secluded, under the biggest rocks, and darkest corners of any room I must visit. In a bubble - referenced in other terms in this post - may I direct all to google a very important message previously recorded by @marketreport, the good man who brought me to tha Steemit - it is titled: The Human Bubble by Gregory Mannarino.
I see the link:
https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@marketreport/global-debt-and-the-human-bubble-by-gregory-mannarino
I am surprised he hasn't turned it into a book on Amazon. My guess is there is so much he could talk about the subject. Surely it could be a downloadable e-book for 99 cents? :)
Thank you good sir! YES!! Everybuddie needs to read / listen to that - Pee.S. we have an adversarial yet gainful relationship which I cherish (just different styles) , and I thank you man I-guy
Aaaand i think thats why blockchain is key to breaking this bad habit. Advertisers can lick one on youube just by watchjng through brave browser. Want to watch the world explode give them a p2p digital currency, let them have transparency. Vibrance and beauty await those who adopt the ideals and technologies of freedom. Much love @intelliguy, your posts are some of my favorite on steemit!
Thanks for continuing to come back. I write them for people just like you, who understand them. :)
Interesting points to consider. My immediate response was to say as soon as money is involved it brings up all the same issues of popularity and motives come back into the picture.
It is good food for thought.
Here's a post idea. Talk about this subject if you believe in it... and link back here as part of your blog.
...these ideologies need to spread, and they can.. with your help.
First of all... this is not " a simple,quick, post". ;cP
Throughout the read I couldn't help but revisit my struggles with the question over how much moderation is actually good and not repressive.
The answer that I came to may be summarized as follows:
Where the message is not blunted: In my view it is OK for a host to require sanitary anti-profanity standards - for as long as its stated up-front. Ideally with an age-filtered channel via which profanity is permitted. The same applies to explicit content.
Where threats are highlighted as such. I do not believe in 'censoring' threats. They happened and should be taken seriously and one way to do so is to highlight them as such. That being said, there are threats and there are 'threats'.
Through such a highlighting system one would expect peer pressure to serve as first-line correction - perhaps in conjunction with action from authorities if applicable.
These are my initial thoughts on the matter. One thing that I can comment upon at tangent is that in the business of gaining a following it is the wishes of the clients and not the advertisers that should determine what can or cannot be monetized. Of course I also understand most advertisers balking at having their product associated with explicit content or profanities or the like.
For other kinds of content of variable degrees of agreeableness - perhaps advertisers should be able to opt into adding a standard 5-10 second disclaimer - available from Youtube's side.
In this way we'll know that KFC's advert doesn't endorse the Youtube review of what goes into McD's patties, etc.
It started as a quick post... until the words started spewing forward so easily, I couldn't stop. :)
Those are the best kinds of posts. ;c)
If only we could tap into such a fountain of word-productivity at will. :cD
Thanks for the encouragement. :)
Great thoughts and great writing contents keep it up Thanks for sharing this
Keep it up God bless you
Very good picture and your story
Free speech must involve respect and consideration for the readers/listeners ...that's what is really important
No. Sometimes the truth matters more, than consideration for the readers/listeners.
Indeed, the Truth must be associated with the respect
Totally agree with what you are saying. Thanks! @journeyfreedom
Thank you,
this topic is of importance and I want to add something to it. I apologize in advance for the length of my comment. But I want to get it out.
I do think that free speech is actually something which pleases my inward world. To talk about theoretically is reasonable.
I would say to get the courage in my daily life where I meet people this matter comes into real being. What I need are examples of you where you opened your mouth and risked something. I actually need it from all people to become aware of the fact that humanity is not going downwards. I am sick of this talk about men on the verge of extinction. Which is here being said in the comments.
Confirmation won't do it. When I confirm you about what you say is right, it's nice. But what would make it more valuable are examples of real interactions and encounters where someone openly speaks of an experience where free speech actually had happened and had done something good.
That's why I talk about mine.
Years ago when I started working for a social institution as a trainee (within my third education) my boss excluded me from the staff meetings because I was not a member of the established team. I was dissatisfied because I thought of me being exploited. I had to run the reception, got different duties and tasks to deliver, acted as a full member for all visitors and clients, organized, managed and put all my professional knowledge of my former career into my work. Nevertheless, I was not allowed to participate in the weekly meeting which I thought was needed to complete my traineeship.
At a certain point, I decided to talk to my boss. I brought forward my complaint. I also said that I no longer wanted to deal with room inquiries because I didn't think that my volunteer work would have to cover this and that I was there to learn something and not just serve as a workload relief for everyone. She rejected me in all aspects.
Then I was thinking of a strategy how to become a respected member and what she would need from me in order to accept my demands. I wrote a summary of my so far made experiences, I included all aspects of my work, the good ones, and the not so good ones. I told her that I will report my text to my academy which was at that time, my theoretical educator. I sent her my text through e-mail.
Then we had another talk. She still had some objections and I was listening to her. I answered what I thought was reasonable. She told me also that I am this kind of person who has a great sense of responsibility and entrepreneurship thinking but this causes often difficulties when people think of me that I step over borders. She told me that another boss would actually have me fired. I said: Yes, I know that. I am aware that I am this kind of person but on the other hand it gives you some advantages along with some disadvantages.
From then on I was invited to all staff meetings. She never really said "Yes, okay, you are right and I am wrong." She never asked me personally to come. It was delivered to me by my colleagues. But I knew from then on that she is respecting me. Later, after my education was finished she hired me. I am still working there for one day a week as a freelancer.
It was very risky to speaking my mind.
I would like hearing from you an example, as well. :)
In simple terms, I was inbetween management and employees as a volunteer union representative.
Employees were happy I spoke what was right... until management came walking around the corner. One employee was talking privately with me, and indepth and soon as he saw the manager, he basically said:
"@intelliguy! Stop talking to me about the union! I am not interested!"
I was shocked. After the manager left, he said "sorry about that, I just can't be seen talking to you"
That is when I learned... when it comes to freedom of speech, everyone decides for themselves when, where, and how it happens.
So when you ask:
I risked my job. I risked my eligibility for career advancement. I risked my friends. I risked everything being in that position Speech was the important part of all of it.\
The risk I took while being hated by both management and employees alike helped both sides even if I was the victim of the inefficiencies of the union role and targeted by it.
So yes, I've been in similar situations before.
...after explaining this to you, if you still doubt my capability about talking about this subject, then I can offer nothing more.
I don't know you and I don't doubt your capability.
I asked for encouragement through an example.
Now you have given one.
You don't have to like me and it seems you felt offended by me taking your thoughts out of the theoretical realm into a practical one. That is a risk I took. Consider that other people who do not comment could appreciate getting examples out of ordinary peoples lives.
I would like to get an encouraging meaning from what you experienced - so far I don't get the message of what positive you got out of your interventions.
The positive message is that when it negative things like this happen, you don't prevent yourself from standing up for what you believe in and continue to do similar things again in the future.
Which is what I did again today, in this blog post. :)
It just "seems" that way. I'm not offended.
Alright. For a moment I thought it was not worth taking all the risks for the gain of the others. ;-)
The gain of others can be the gain of yourself too in the long run.
If injustices are corrected it ends up being a better place to live for everyone.
Anyone, anybody and anything are indefinite pronouns. We use anyone, anybody and anything to refer to both an open, unlimited set of things or people and specific things or people
I do not understand what you are trying to say.
Excellent writing. Personally I'd pick Idiocracy as a movie reference. It wasn't really amazing or anything. But it was pretty much prophetic. I've also written about YouTube censorship here. One potential problem I still see is that even though everything stays in the blockchain, whales can downvote and destroy the incentive to produce certain kinds of content. But steemit is better than anything we've got. Plus we are still very young.
It is a pity when freedom of speech depends on money. Of course it's great when your creativity, your blog, makes you profit. But does the lack of advertisers should be the reason for the refusal of my case? I guess not.
I always call what you are talking about "silent censorship.'' It is silent because the average reader/viewer does not realize it is going on. Mass media has gotten to where it is today because of this type of censorship. It brings me back to a poster that was hung on the wall of my 7th grade English class which stated , "censorship causes blindness". Good post @intelliguy thanks for the email.
Sorry I missed this until now , man your really hit the nail on the head with that one ! For some reason when you asked the reader to " stop and think about what your reading " I thought about Ted Kazinski AKA the UNABOMBER . The reason behind that is his manifesto he had the newspaper publish , it was about how the technology and industrialized way of life will deprive us of the true value and meaning of what life has to offer and how we are forced into this societal herd of sheeple that have no choice but to follow the herd ...... read the manifesto and tell me what you think , he had good ideology but no way to pass it on to his fellow man . We all have that opportunity to publish any idea we have and post it around the glob .... idk ive beeen busy great post and read that an let me know what you think . STEEMONNNNNNNN BROTHER