Civil Liberties

mahatmakanejeeves

(61,295 posts) Tue Dec 21, 2021, 06:30 AM Dec 2021

"[Robert] Reich has two ideas that he thinks don't undermine free speech. He's simply wrong."

Robert Reich is a beloved DU icon. His tweets get posted here all the time.

That doesn't mean he can't be wrong.

This thread of Ari Cohn's should upset DU's large "the FCC should ban Fox News" contingent.

Full disclosure: Robert Reich was a Rhodes Scholar who went to Oxford. After that, he attended Yale Law. I went to Northern Virginia Community College. I am not a lawyer.

JeSuisJortsHat Retweeted

1/ It would be great if professors of public policy with law degrees would stop spreading misinformation about the law (ironically while complaining about misinformation on social media).

Prof. Reich has two ideas that he thinks don't undermine free speech. He's simply wrong.

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It really should not be too much to ask from people who enjoy a perception of credibility and a large platform to dig a little deeper than "we must do something, this is something, ergo we must do this"

Not for nothing, anyone who says "well platforms won't be liable but they won't allow Content I Don't Like to avoid the cost of having to deal with the crush of litigation from People Angry About Content I Don't Like" doesn't actually care one single bit about the First Amendment

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You have a better idea? Or *any* plausibly effective solution *at all* that would fall within ideological boundaries you recognize?

(Assuming you recognize that there is a critical problem to be solved here.)

Society's problems can't all be fixed by law. The sooner you stop pretending otherwise, the better position people will be in to find other solutions.

I don't need to have a "better idea" to criticize a bad idea.

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Bye

This is Twitter, not an airport. No need to announce your departure.

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Salam, please find the unroll here: 1/ It would be great if professors of public policy with law degrees… https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1473086129498959876.html Share this if you think it's interesting. Robot face

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5 replies

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Highlight:

"[Robert] Reich has two ideas that he thinks don't undermine free speech. He's simply wrong." (Original Post) mahatmakanejeeves Dec 2021 OP

Reich is wrong a lot of times, especially in a lot of his economic pronouncements JohnSJ Dec 2021 #1

"Society's problems can't all be fixed by law." sop Dec 2021 #2

Did they fix them? Ocelot II Dec 2021 #3

These laws didn't fail, they were undone by opponents precisely because they were working. sop Dec 2021 #4

Cohn sounds like a libertarian. Fiendish Thingy Dec 2021 #5

JohnSJ

(96,753 posts)

1. Reich is wrong a lot of times, especially in a lot of his economic pronouncements

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Tue Dec 21, 2021, 07:16 AM

Dec 2021

sop

(11,391 posts)

2. "Society's problems can't all be fixed by law."

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Tue Dec 21, 2021, 07:38 AM

Dec 2021

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fairness Doctrine of 1949 and the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974 were all laws created to solve society's problems.

Ocelot II

(121,219 posts)

3. Did they fix them?

Reply to sop (Reply #2)

Tue Dec 21, 2021, 08:19 AM

Dec 2021

Laws can fix a social problem only if they define specific conduct as unlawful and provide a remedy if the conduct occurs. Outlawing anger is impossible; a society can only outlaw conduct.

sop

(11,391 posts)

4. These laws didn't fail, they were undone by opponents precisely because they were working.

Reply to Ocelot II (Reply #3)

Tue Dec 21, 2021, 08:27 AM

Dec 2021

Fiendish Thingy

(18,662 posts)

5. Cohn sounds like a libertarian.

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Original post)

Tue Dec 21, 2021, 08:45 AM

Dec 2021

I think social media platforms should be classified as publishers, and held responsible for the content they publish. Just like a book publisher or magazine, if they allow libelous material or something that harms a community or incites violence, they should able to be sued.

No First amendment censorship, just accountability.

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