Censorship

All too often we tend to find a way to say things in public arenas and then think we can get away with whatever we say. Next thing we know what we have said has been squelched one way or another, then next thing you know we’re crying that our first amendment rights have been violated. To that I say it depends…

Many times you’ll see people go on a tirade about one thing or another, it’s ok to do that in most cases but when it crosses certain boundaries then by all means it should be censored especially when what’s being said is on a privately owned and operated service.

We (as in the general masses) put up blog reports here and there on different services and in all people can choose what they want to talk about and all is well. We even go to different forums and newsgroups across the internet’s far reaching boundaries and talk about varied topics.

Key word here that we need to consider is that you’re using a service and they have a “Terms of Service” agreement that you usually have to agree to prior to using their service. So if someone talks about something that violates a “Terms of Service” agreement on one of these services, that company has every right to squelch what’s being said. No first amendment backlash there, period.

Now on the other hand if you have your own server, and make your own forum or blog I’m pretty sure you would be free to say what you want to say and not violate any agreement. This is where you do have a right to say what you want. Heck even standing on a soapbox on the corner you have that right.

If you would like to learn more about freedom of speech feel free to check out this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech