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0 pointsGeekyBear2y ago0 comments

I don't know that former government officials are the same level of problem that demands from (then) current government officials are.

For example:

> We released a list of 354 names Maine Senate Angus King wanted taken down for reasons like “Rand Paul visit excitement,” “followed by [former Republican opponent Eric] Brakey,” and my personal favorite, “mentions immigration.” For balance we also released a letter from a Republican official at the State Department, Mark Lenzi, who tells Twitter about 14 real Americans “you may want to look into and delete.”

https://www.racket.news/p/capsule-summaries-of-all-twitter

This behavior clearly violates the First Amendment.

0 comments

ceejayoz2y ago

Doesn't the First Amendment protect the right to say "I think this should be taken down"?

(Side note: The Angus King stuff is a misrepresentation. The screenshots are from a spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vS1PbfNEqDCK... - in which a column indicates how the account first came to the King campaign's attention, not the reason they think they warranted action.)

chipsa2y ago

If you're a private citizen, yes. If you're a government employee, speaking in the course of your duties, then it's not your speech, it's government speech. The First Amendment doesn't protect the right of the government to speech, because the government doesn't have rights. What does that even mean, for the US Government to have a right to speak without fear of action being taken against it by the US Government?

ceejayoz2y ago

> If you're a government employee, speaking in the course of your duties, then it's not your speech, it's government speech.

This would make quite a few Congressional hearings unconstitutional. For example: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/4-tech-industry-titan...

It'd probably also apply to the President saying "lock her up" about a private citizen. Is that unconstitutional pressure from an elected official?

> What does that even mean, for the US Government to have a right to speak without fear of action being taken against it by the US Government?

It means stuff like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_or_Debate_Clause

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GeekyBearOP2y ago

Not when your are a government official demanding that political speech be censored.

ceejayoz2y ago

"you may want to look into and delete" isn't a demand.

Politicians demand censorship all the time, as is their right. They usually don't get what they want, as they don't typically have the right to enforce their desires.

For example: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9619449/Rand-Paul-b...

> Rand Paul blasted Twitter on Tuesday for not immediately taking down Richard Marx’s tweet from Sunday in which he offered to buy drinks for the Kentucky neighbor who assaulted the Republican senator in 2017.

He can demand. They can say no. Both are First Amendment protected actions.

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0 pointsGeekyBear2y ago0 comments

I don't know that former government officials are the same level of problem that demands from (then) current government officials are.

For example:

https://www.racket.news/p/capsule-summaries-of-all-twitter

This behavior clearly violates the First Amendment.

0 comments

ceejayoz2y ago

Doesn't the First Amendment protect the right to say "I think this should be taken down"?

chipsa2y ago

ceejayoz2y ago

> If you're a government employee, speaking in the course of your duties, then it's not your speech, it's government speech.

This would make quite a few Congressional hearings unconstitutional. For example: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/4-tech-industry-titan...

It'd probably also apply to the President saying "lock her up" about a private citizen. Is that unconstitutional pressure from an elected official?

> What does that even mean, for the US Government to have a right to speak without fear of action being taken against it by the US Government?

It means stuff like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_or_Debate_Clause

2 more replies

GeekyBearOP2y ago

Not when your are a government official demanding that political speech be censored.

ceejayoz2y ago

"you may want to look into and delete" isn't a demand.

Politicians demand censorship all the time, as is their right. They usually don't get what they want, as they don't typically have the right to enforce their desires.

For example: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9619449/Rand-Paul-b...

He can demand. They can say no. Both are First Amendment protected actions.

1 more reply

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