WEBVTT 00:00:00.639 --> 00:00:05.019 Wait, is that what I think it is? No! So we need 00:00:05.019 --> 00:00:08.259 to talk a little bit about what it is to have 00:00:08.259 --> 00:00:11.759 protected speech, specifically free speech in 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:14.419 the social media space. And this is not anything 00:00:14.419 --> 00:00:17.399 new. It's been something that has been discussed 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:21.039 quite a bit just in the public sphere. But I 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:23.679 thought that I would at least create some sort 00:00:23.679 --> 00:00:25.719 of context for understanding the idea of free 00:00:25.719 --> 00:00:28.480 speech, because the wrong idea seems to be getting 00:00:28.480 --> 00:00:30.800 out there. When I'm engaging with my students 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:33.500 in my ethics classes. A lot of them come in with 00:00:33.500 --> 00:00:35.939 certain notions of what free speech means, and 00:00:35.939 --> 00:00:38.780 they just seem to be completely off base with 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:41.679 regards to what free speech is, at least in the 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:44.899 United States. So let me give you a little bit 00:00:44.899 --> 00:00:46.420 of background of where these thoughts kind of 00:00:46.420 --> 00:00:50.179 came from. It's been discussed quite a bit by 00:00:50.179 --> 00:00:52.420 Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk and some of these 00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:56.670 other figures. These tech bros in the online 00:00:56.670 --> 00:01:00.130 space, on social media spaces, keep claiming 00:01:00.130 --> 00:01:02.729 that they are protectors of free speech, that 00:01:02.729 --> 00:01:05.909 they care about free speech, that people have 00:01:05.909 --> 00:01:08.290 the right to say what they want on their platform, 00:01:08.489 --> 00:01:11.870 regardless of how out of pocket, batshit, crazy, 00:01:12.010 --> 00:01:16.560 false. ever it is that, you know, however you 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:18.620 might feel about what other people say, that 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:21.299 they should be allowed to say it on their platform, 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:24.560 right? Whether it's Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, 00:01:24.879 --> 00:01:30.040 X, you know, TikTok, you know, any sort of online 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:32.739 space, there should be a platform for people 00:01:32.739 --> 00:01:36.379 to say however they feel. And that is that. And 00:01:36.379 --> 00:01:39.040 that is not the social media's job's responsibility. 00:01:39.879 --> 00:01:44.060 to try to police the speech that is coming out 00:01:44.060 --> 00:01:48.480 in these platforms. And furthermore, they keep 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:50.780 on claiming that they're doing it on behalf of 00:01:50.780 --> 00:01:53.500 free speech, the right to free speech, the First 00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:55.819 Amendment, right? That this is something that's 00:01:55.819 --> 00:01:57.659 protected under the First Amendment and people 00:01:57.659 --> 00:01:58.939 should have a right to say whatever they want, 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:02.620 okay? All right. Complete bullshit in so many 00:02:02.620 --> 00:02:04.900 ways. Just complete bullshit in so many ways. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:07.239 And I think it's partly because I think there's 00:02:07.239 --> 00:02:09.729 not a... a deeper understanding in the general 00:02:09.729 --> 00:02:12.990 public about exactly what free speech is, at 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:15.310 least what's protected under the First Amendment, 00:02:15.550 --> 00:02:18.409 and how that actually applies to private companies 00:02:18.409 --> 00:02:21.569 like these social media companies, right? Okay, 00:02:21.650 --> 00:02:25.430 so look, free speech does not mean that you get 00:02:25.430 --> 00:02:28.469 to say whatever you want, okay? Free speech as 00:02:28.469 --> 00:02:31.599 a right is like any other rights, right? All 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:35.060 rights are competing with one another. What I 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:36.780 mean by that is that, you know, just because 00:02:36.780 --> 00:02:38.639 you have a right does not mean that you have 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:42.419 kind of like, you know, you get to go ahead and 00:02:42.419 --> 00:02:45.639 impose that right regardless of, you know, context, 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:48.979 okay? All rights are competing with each other 00:02:48.979 --> 00:02:51.900 in that sometimes these rights come into conflict 00:02:51.900 --> 00:02:53.539 with one another and you have to kind of pick 00:02:53.539 --> 00:02:56.539 which right is more important to protect in a 00:02:56.539 --> 00:03:00.939 given situation, right? What we found historically 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:03.580 is that free speech runs up against limitations 00:03:03.580 --> 00:03:07.439 as well. So first off, free speech does not mean 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:09.819 that you get to say whatever you want. It means 00:03:09.819 --> 00:03:12.560 that you get protection into saying some things, 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:15.840 most things, but there are certain limits. For 00:03:15.840 --> 00:03:19.460 instance, you can't threaten bodily injury or 00:03:19.460 --> 00:03:21.259 death. You can't threaten that you're going to 00:03:21.259 --> 00:03:23.699 kill somebody. That's not protected under free 00:03:23.699 --> 00:03:27.379 speech. Okay. You can't, you know, conspiracy 00:03:27.379 --> 00:03:29.860 to commit crimes isn't protected under free speech. 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:33.120 Okay. And, you know, one that I think a lot of 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:34.759 people are at least somewhat aware of is that 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:37.800 you can't incite violence or other unlawful acts. 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:39.580 Right. I think the common example that's used 00:03:39.580 --> 00:03:42.520 is like yelling fire in a crowded theater, which 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:45.080 would lead to a lot of people ending up based 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:47.280 on that false information, getting hurt, trampling 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:49.180 over one another, trying to escape the theater. 00:03:50.509 --> 00:03:53.250 But just generally, like, asking other people 00:03:53.250 --> 00:03:55.430 to, you know, raise arms and try to kill other 00:03:55.430 --> 00:03:58.590 people is not protected under free speech, okay? 00:03:59.469 --> 00:04:01.430 You know, encouraging people to commit murder 00:04:01.430 --> 00:04:04.650 is not protected under free speech, okay? So, 00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:06.689 first off, free speech has limits, like anything 00:04:06.689 --> 00:04:09.069 else, right? All rights are like this. All rights 00:04:09.069 --> 00:04:12.270 that we enumerate in the Constitution, in the 00:04:12.270 --> 00:04:15.909 Bill of Rights, in, you know, the universal Bill 00:04:15.909 --> 00:04:18.240 of Rights, you know, like... that's used across 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:20.360 all these other countries, right? They all have 00:04:20.360 --> 00:04:22.579 certain limitations, and it's mainly because 00:04:22.579 --> 00:04:26.699 these rights don't necessarily apply when there's 00:04:26.699 --> 00:04:28.360 other rights that are at stake, and you have 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:30.139 to kind of pick and choose. And so there's a 00:04:30.139 --> 00:04:32.540 meaningful discussion to be had about which should 00:04:32.540 --> 00:04:36.680 take priority in a given situation. Okay. Secondly, 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:40.879 free speech does not mean protection from consequences. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:44.120 And this includes things like boycotts and social 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:47.879 shaming, right? and people getting mad at you 00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:50.540 and then yelling at you, right? Okay, so in other 00:04:50.540 --> 00:04:53.779 words, yes, you're protected in terms of you 00:04:53.779 --> 00:04:57.139 can say what you want to, let's say, okay? And 00:04:57.139 --> 00:04:59.220 it might not be something that other people enjoy 00:04:59.220 --> 00:05:02.819 hearing, but just because you have the freedom 00:05:02.819 --> 00:05:06.220 to say what you want to does not mean that it 00:05:06.220 --> 00:05:09.079 prevents other people from saying what they want 00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:12.620 to. It doesn't prevent other people from responding 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:14.980 in the way that they would like to. This is so 00:05:14.980 --> 00:05:18.040 that we could protect their speech. So if you 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:19.980 say something that's completely out of pocket 00:05:19.980 --> 00:05:22.439 and insulting and demeaning to a whole group 00:05:22.439 --> 00:05:24.860 of people, and that group of people gets really 00:05:24.860 --> 00:05:27.120 mad and decides they're going to boycott and 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:30.220 protest you and then show up to your workplace 00:05:30.220 --> 00:05:33.959 and then start yelling at you in a space where 00:05:33.959 --> 00:05:37.589 they're allowed to do so. That's perfectly allowed. 00:05:37.709 --> 00:05:39.930 If they want to go online and then comment on 00:05:39.930 --> 00:05:42.370 your threads and then just say all kinds of like 00:05:42.370 --> 00:05:44.910 nasty things, just as you might have said something 00:05:44.910 --> 00:05:48.009 nasty to them, they could say likewise, right? 00:05:48.110 --> 00:05:50.149 They could do the likewise in return. They could 00:05:50.149 --> 00:05:52.949 also encourage people to not support you in any 00:05:52.949 --> 00:05:56.939 way. Right. To, you know, I don't know, unsubscribe 00:05:56.939 --> 00:06:00.399 from you, to not listen to you, to actively, 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:04.560 you know, petition with higher ups to try to 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:06.220 get you fired. Right. They could they could do 00:06:06.220 --> 00:06:08.040 all these things. Now, there's a separate question 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:10.300 of whether or not these behaviors, this response 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:14.399 is moral, but at least free speech allows for 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:17.420 them to do so. Okay? Again, free speech is not 00:06:17.420 --> 00:06:21.399 here to, you know, be a morality police. It's 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:24.500 just here to ensure that everyone gets to, you 00:06:24.500 --> 00:06:26.399 know, doesn't have their voice taken away from 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:28.899 them. That's primarily the point, right? And 00:06:28.899 --> 00:06:30.699 that includes the people who are responding to 00:06:30.699 --> 00:06:32.720 you. So if you say something that is completely 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:35.040 wild, batshit crazy on social media and people 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.439 get upset at you and yell at you and hate you, 00:06:37.540 --> 00:06:40.199 okay, they have every right to do so. Just as 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:41.600 you had the right to say it, other people have 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:43.819 a right to go ahead and respond to it in the 00:06:43.819 --> 00:06:46.620 way that they want to. So I want to be clear 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:48.100 about this. Free speech does not mean you're 00:06:48.100 --> 00:06:50.959 protected from any consequences. You have to 00:06:50.959 --> 00:06:53.339 face consequences for your actions. This is just 00:06:53.339 --> 00:06:55.939 how life works, right? You don't live in a vacuum. 00:06:56.379 --> 00:06:58.680 Other people live around you, and they could 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:00.279 feel how they want about whatever it is that 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:04.040 you say. Finally, and this is, I think, the biggest 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:06.720 point, and it feels like we've done a disservice 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:10.019 in public education for all the students if they 00:07:10.019 --> 00:07:12.319 don't actually understand this. It's like basic. 00:07:13.709 --> 00:07:17.149 civil law that every student should be introduced 00:07:17.149 --> 00:07:20.550 to as they go through their social science classes 00:07:20.550 --> 00:07:23.569 in elementary, junior high, and high school. 00:07:24.149 --> 00:07:27.350 Free speech, the First Amendment specifically, 00:07:27.709 --> 00:07:33.810 protects speech and it only applies to the government 00:07:33.810 --> 00:07:38.230 restricting free speech. It does not apply to 00:07:38.230 --> 00:07:42.639 the private sphere. If you take a look at the 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:44.680 First Amendment, the First Amendment is there 00:07:44.680 --> 00:07:48.779 to stop the government from being this oppressive 00:07:48.779 --> 00:07:53.100 dictatorship by preventing the government from 00:07:53.100 --> 00:07:56.420 preventing you from speaking your mind. And especially 00:07:56.420 --> 00:07:59.079 when you're speaking your mind against the government, 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:02.329 against government officials, right? no matter 00:08:02.329 --> 00:08:04.769 how offensive it might be. Again, as long as 00:08:04.769 --> 00:08:06.910 it's within these boundaries of not causing harm 00:08:06.910 --> 00:08:09.589 to other people, threatening them, inciting violence, 00:08:09.709 --> 00:08:12.069 things like that, right? Now, why is this important? 00:08:12.730 --> 00:08:16.649 Well, in considering where free speech lies in 00:08:16.649 --> 00:08:20.209 the context of social media, private companies 00:08:20.209 --> 00:08:26.009 cannot claim First Amendment rights, okay? First 00:08:26.009 --> 00:08:28.930 Amendment does not apply to these social media 00:08:28.930 --> 00:08:34.039 companies. They just don't. They just don't. 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:36.600 They don't apply to Facebook, X, TikTok. They 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:38.759 don't apply to any of these things. What I mean 00:08:38.759 --> 00:08:41.779 by that is that the free speech protection that 00:08:41.779 --> 00:08:46.159 we enjoy as U .S. citizens applies to our relationship 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:49.440 with the government so that the government cannot 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:53.960 be an oppressive force and stop us from saying, 00:08:54.620 --> 00:08:56.620 how we feel about the government. We can say, 00:08:56.659 --> 00:09:00.279 I hate the government. I want to demolish these 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:02.399 parts of the government. I want change in the 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:05.240 government. I don't agree with such and such 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:07.100 a candidate. I don't agree with such and such 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:09.940 a politician. I hate the politician. You could 00:09:09.940 --> 00:09:11.940 insult the politician as much as you want to. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.360 These are all allowed. You might think that that's 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:17.980 not the smartest thing or the most ethical thing 00:09:17.980 --> 00:09:20.759 to do, but it's allowed, at least under the First 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:24.559 Amendment. But those protections do not extend 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:30.440 to the private sphere. In other words, if social 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:33.909 media companies... wanted to impose restrictions 00:09:33.909 --> 00:09:36.649 on speech. Let's say they want to restrict it 00:09:36.649 --> 00:09:41.149 based off of, you know, foul language or whether 00:09:41.149 --> 00:09:42.929 it meets like, you know, some places have these 00:09:42.929 --> 00:09:45.970 community guidelines about how to, you know, 00:09:45.970 --> 00:09:47.809 how to engage with other people, that you're 00:09:47.809 --> 00:09:50.909 not overly mean or insulting, that it's productive, 00:09:51.070 --> 00:09:54.110 right? Okay. And they want to shut down conversations 00:09:54.110 --> 00:09:57.950 on their platform. Okay. Notice that none of 00:09:57.950 --> 00:10:02.279 this applies to government. shutting anybody 00:10:02.279 --> 00:10:05.360 down from saying what they want to say. It is 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:08.740 only within these social media platforms, okay? 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:12.240 If Zuckerberg wanted to shut down certain types 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:15.299 of speech on Facebook, he has every right to 00:10:15.299 --> 00:10:19.899 do so, and it has nothing to do with free speech 00:10:19.899 --> 00:10:23.740 protection. Let me repeat, has absolutely nothing 00:10:23.740 --> 00:10:28.240 to do with free speech protection, okay? So... 00:10:28.750 --> 00:10:31.909 It's been a nightmare when I see fuckers like 00:10:31.909 --> 00:10:36.289 Mark Zuckey here and Elon Musk that either, I 00:10:36.289 --> 00:10:38.009 don't know, one, they're completely ignorant 00:10:38.009 --> 00:10:42.990 of what free speech protection really is, or 00:10:42.990 --> 00:10:45.809 honestly, in my view, again, I don't know for 00:10:45.809 --> 00:10:48.590 sure, but, you know, given the kind of people 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:50.549 that they are and that they have intelligent 00:10:50.549 --> 00:10:52.789 people around them, they're probably misleading 00:10:52.789 --> 00:10:56.779 the public. to believe some lies about what free 00:10:56.779 --> 00:11:00.019 speech is and to claim that they are somehow 00:11:00.019 --> 00:11:04.500 the bastions of free speech, that they're protecting 00:11:04.500 --> 00:11:07.840 free speech, okay? Free speech, at least the 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:09.299 way that they're trying to present it, has nothing 00:11:09.299 --> 00:11:11.779 to do with their companies, okay? Private companies 00:11:11.779 --> 00:11:14.000 have every right to restrict speech on their 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:17.220 platform. And in fact, a lot of these platforms 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:19.600 have that. They impose certain guidelines of 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:22.679 what acceptable speech is. They have guidelines 00:11:22.679 --> 00:11:25.279 on how it is that they're going to enforce that, 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:30.080 okay? They're just choosing not to. They're not 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:32.960 championing anything. They're just choosing, 00:11:33.059 --> 00:11:35.779 if they're choosing not to go ahead and restrict 00:11:35.779 --> 00:11:38.519 this, you know, speech like lies and outright 00:11:38.519 --> 00:11:41.200 on their platform, like they're just choosing 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:44.000 not to do anything about it, okay? But they are 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.210 not fighting government oppression. They're not 00:11:47.210 --> 00:11:51.529 fighting any sort of violations of free speech. 00:11:52.250 --> 00:11:55.269 They're just lazy, unethical fucks that don't 00:11:55.269 --> 00:11:57.809 want to bother restricting speech in a way that 00:11:57.809 --> 00:12:01.129 is conducive to creating meaningful, helpful, 00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:05.710 civil dialogue. My guess is it has a lot to do 00:12:05.710 --> 00:12:06.970 with the fact that they're probably making lots 00:12:06.970 --> 00:12:10.169 of money of people getting really upset by trolls 00:12:10.169 --> 00:12:12.690 and stuff going around saying all kinds of batshit 00:12:12.690 --> 00:12:16.179 crazy stuff to rile up other people. I want to 00:12:16.179 --> 00:12:18.000 be clear about this, okay? It's their choice. 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:21.580 It's their choice. And it's not grounded in any 00:12:21.580 --> 00:12:24.639 deeper commitment to free speech. They can choose 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:28.419 to restrict outright false claims, which some 00:12:28.419 --> 00:12:31.100 have tried to some degree, but I doubt they will 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:35.080 because it's not profitable. They could restrict 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:38.419 speech that is meant to incite. Now, some of 00:12:38.419 --> 00:12:40.220 this, right, the government could come in and 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:42.299 shut down, but they could do so themselves without 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:45.980 the government being involved. OK, but they probably 00:12:45.980 --> 00:12:47.919 won't because that also gets a lot of clicks 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:50.419 and gets a lot of engagement. So they're probably 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:52.879 not going to do it for profit's sake. They could 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:55.580 restrict images that misrepresent, right, that 00:12:55.580 --> 00:12:57.659 manipulate a lot of these like fake, deep, fake 00:12:57.659 --> 00:12:59.820 images and stuff. They could do things to restrict 00:12:59.820 --> 00:13:03.539 what can be posted on their platform. But of 00:13:03.539 --> 00:13:06.600 course, they won't because, again, probably impacts 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:09.950 profit. They could restrict foul language. They 00:13:09.950 --> 00:13:12.750 could restrict, right, you know, offensive language. 00:13:12.950 --> 00:13:17.049 They could restrict, right, language that, you 00:13:17.049 --> 00:13:18.450 know, they could set these community standards 00:13:18.450 --> 00:13:20.649 that say like, hey, we're not going to accept 00:13:20.649 --> 00:13:23.149 anything on our platform where people are attacking 00:13:23.149 --> 00:13:25.990 other people based off of, you know, factors 00:13:25.990 --> 00:13:28.950 like gender or race or, right, all these like 00:13:28.950 --> 00:13:31.129 xenophobic rants that people go on, right? Like 00:13:31.129 --> 00:13:34.629 you could actually impose restrictions as a private 00:13:34.629 --> 00:13:37.179 company. on your platform and say, hey, we're 00:13:37.179 --> 00:13:39.159 not going to accept this on our platform. They're 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:42.519 just choosing not to. They're choosing not to, 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:49.799 okay? All right. What they can't do, okay, what 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:53.919 they can't do is they can't discriminate based 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:56.120 off of sex, gender, religion, race, and so on, 00:13:56.139 --> 00:13:58.360 right? But notice something here. That's not 00:13:58.360 --> 00:14:00.299 a free speech issue. That's a discrimination 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:03.080 issue. That's about fairness. That has nothing 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:05.860 to do with free speech, right? So there are certain 00:14:05.860 --> 00:14:08.700 things that they are restricted from doing in 00:14:08.700 --> 00:14:13.620 terms of, you know, in terms of policing their 00:14:13.620 --> 00:14:16.879 platform. Right. They can't go target specific 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:20.779 groups. Right. And say, like, look, women can't 00:14:20.779 --> 00:14:22.440 be on this platform. They can't do things like 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:24.740 that. But that's a discrimination issue. They 00:14:24.740 --> 00:14:26.720 can't on their they cannot on their platform 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:29.480 say like certain religions cannot post information 00:14:29.480 --> 00:14:31.159 about their religion on our platform. They can't 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:33.870 do that. That's targeting a specific. you know, 00:14:33.870 --> 00:14:35.970 group and discriminating based off of that. But 00:14:35.970 --> 00:14:38.110 notice in here, that's not a free speech issue. 00:14:38.190 --> 00:14:40.990 That's a discrimination issue, okay? Now, why 00:14:40.990 --> 00:14:42.090 is this important? Look, I'm going to give you 00:14:42.090 --> 00:14:43.769 an example, right? And I want to show you exactly 00:14:43.769 --> 00:14:47.309 how this could play out, right, in terms of the 00:14:47.309 --> 00:14:49.309 way that these social platforms work, that social 00:14:49.309 --> 00:14:52.789 media platforms just choose not to, okay? So 00:14:52.789 --> 00:14:57.200 I used to play this game called... What is it? 00:14:57.220 --> 00:14:58.559 Settlers of Catan, right? I don't know if you've 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:01.080 ever heard of that board game, okay? Now, I really 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:03.220 enjoyed it, but sometimes, you know, as you get 00:15:03.220 --> 00:15:04.720 older, sometimes it's kind of hard to get friends 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:06.720 together to actually play games. And sometimes 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.539 I found it to be kind of boring. Once you figure 00:15:09.539 --> 00:15:11.460 the game out, it kind of gets a little bit boring 00:15:11.460 --> 00:15:13.279 if you play with the same people again and again. 00:15:13.720 --> 00:15:15.759 And on top of that, the game goes kind of slow 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:17.500 when you're in person because people want to 00:15:17.500 --> 00:15:19.299 negotiate and make deals. And it's like, oh, 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:21.860 it takes forever, okay? So I discovered that 00:15:21.860 --> 00:15:23.519 there's an online space where people could play 00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:25.120 Settlers of Catan with a bunch of strangers. 00:15:26.069 --> 00:15:28.169 Okay. And I'm not going to say what the name 00:15:28.169 --> 00:15:30.769 of this place is, but because I think, I don't 00:15:30.769 --> 00:15:32.929 know if they, it's like, it wasn't technically 00:15:32.929 --> 00:15:35.649 Settlers of Catan. It was kind of like a knockoff 00:15:35.649 --> 00:15:37.830 version of it, but essentially all the same rules, 00:15:37.909 --> 00:15:40.889 more or less, and same aesthetics and same gameplay. 00:15:41.090 --> 00:15:44.129 Okay. In any case, I was on this platform. I 00:15:44.129 --> 00:15:45.990 would play this game from time to time, just 00:15:45.990 --> 00:15:47.950 when I was bored. And I just wanted to, you know, 00:15:47.990 --> 00:15:51.000 this is like years ago. I enjoy just like playing, 00:15:51.059 --> 00:15:53.879 you know, when I had some free time. And so I 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:56.179 would play this game on this platform. And, you 00:15:56.179 --> 00:15:57.860 know, there's a chat function where you could, 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:00.000 again, you could communicate with the other players 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:02.600 and make deals and things like that. OK, but 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:04.320 they had certain community guidelines. Right. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:06.659 And they wanted to create a platform where people, 00:16:06.759 --> 00:16:10.419 you know, felt. How do you say this? Like they 00:16:10.419 --> 00:16:12.279 could enjoy playing the game, right? So what 00:16:12.279 --> 00:16:15.220 they didn't want was gameplay where people were 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:17.340 talking trash to one another, insulting one another, 00:16:17.559 --> 00:16:20.500 being mean to one another, using obscene language, 00:16:20.759 --> 00:16:23.899 okay? But me being the competitive person I am 00:16:23.899 --> 00:16:28.240 and being the jerk I, you know, am, am, was, 00:16:28.379 --> 00:16:30.980 am, probably still am to some degree, okay? All 00:16:30.980 --> 00:16:33.730 right. I was on this site and, you know, on the 00:16:33.730 --> 00:16:36.289 chat group, sometimes these players who just 00:16:36.289 --> 00:16:38.830 make these decisions that, you know, not only 00:16:38.830 --> 00:16:42.009 went against my interests in the game, but also 00:16:42.009 --> 00:16:44.429 I just thought it was just terrible reasoning, 00:16:44.549 --> 00:16:46.669 right? This is just like... You know, like, you 00:16:46.669 --> 00:16:49.409 know, sometimes we play like a game with somebody 00:16:49.409 --> 00:16:51.830 and you're like, why did you make that decision? 00:16:51.970 --> 00:16:54.470 Because, I mean, you have every reason to make 00:16:54.470 --> 00:16:55.830 your like you have every right to make your own 00:16:55.830 --> 00:16:58.149 decisions. But that was just such a terrible, 00:16:58.250 --> 00:17:01.750 uninformed move. It doesn't even benefit you. 00:17:01.970 --> 00:17:04.329 You just lost everyone else the game. Right. 00:17:04.369 --> 00:17:06.250 Like, you know, like somebody makes a move like 00:17:06.250 --> 00:17:08.410 that. Right. I would get upset and I would start 00:17:08.410 --> 00:17:11.250 ranting in these chat groups. Right. And I would 00:17:11.250 --> 00:17:13.809 start insulting the other players. Right. Now. 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:16.400 Again, they had these community guidelines that 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.000 said that kind of language, that kind of engagement 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:21.700 is not allowed. And so they had a whole system 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:25.400 of allowing players to kind of warn the moderators 00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:27.980 about what's going on. And then so I got a warning. 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:30.799 I got a second warning. I got a one -day ban. 00:17:31.019 --> 00:17:33.460 And then at some point, I think they just banned 00:17:33.460 --> 00:17:35.960 me outright because I just wouldn't stop. And 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:40.160 I couldn't get mad at them. I couldn't get mad 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:42.779 at them. They did exactly what they were allowed 00:17:42.779 --> 00:17:46.299 to do. I did not go up to them and say, hey, 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:48.200 this is a matter of free speech. Like, how dare 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:50.380 you, you know, go ahead and oppress me in this 00:17:50.380 --> 00:17:52.900 way? Like, how dare you violate my right to say 00:17:52.900 --> 00:17:54.799 what I want to, right? I can say whatever the 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:57.279 hell I want to. Like, no, I can't. At least not 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:59.559 on their platform because it's their platform. 00:17:59.700 --> 00:18:01.960 They could go ahead and choose, hey, we do not 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:03.920 want this kind of engagement. If you do engage 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:06.200 in this way, then we're going to ban you from 00:18:06.200 --> 00:18:09.380 this platform. And they did exactly that. And 00:18:09.380 --> 00:18:12.819 they stuck by it. And I salute my... I tipped 00:18:12.819 --> 00:18:14.559 my cap off to them, right? Like that was pretty 00:18:14.559 --> 00:18:17.700 amazing. They did a great job. And then after 00:18:17.700 --> 00:18:19.299 that, I was like, okay, all right, I should probably 00:18:19.299 --> 00:18:21.299 take it seriously. Maybe I should not be such 00:18:21.299 --> 00:18:24.220 an asshole. And maybe then, you know, I could 00:18:24.220 --> 00:18:27.059 actually continue to enjoy using some of these 00:18:27.059 --> 00:18:29.039 wonderful platforms because it was honestly fun 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.720 until I, you know, until I started going off 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:33.559 on like deep end rants. And then honestly, it 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:35.609 said more about me. More about me having some 00:18:35.609 --> 00:18:37.950 issues, right? But look, I couldn't blame them 00:18:37.950 --> 00:18:40.789 for banning me. I couldn't. Why? Because I violated 00:18:40.789 --> 00:18:43.930 their community standards. I violated their policies. 00:18:44.049 --> 00:18:47.349 I violated what they said was going to be the 00:18:47.349 --> 00:18:49.269 things that would get me kicked off on their 00:18:49.269 --> 00:18:53.569 platform because they chose the rules of engagement 00:18:53.569 --> 00:18:56.450 in terms of speech. And they're allowed to do 00:18:56.450 --> 00:19:01.569 that because it is their goddamn company. Okay? 00:19:01.869 --> 00:19:05.420 It is not the government. It is their company 00:19:05.420 --> 00:19:11.980 on their private company platform, okay? Does 00:19:11.980 --> 00:19:16.759 this make sense? Which means that fuckers like 00:19:16.759 --> 00:19:19.880 Mark Zuckey here could go ahead and do the exact 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:24.740 same thing, okay? The truth is they could do 00:19:24.740 --> 00:19:28.180 it, they just don't want to. But they present 00:19:28.180 --> 00:19:30.759 it as if they're playing this, like cosplaying 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:34.160 as heroes, claiming that they are the ones, the 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.500 last bastions of free speech, saying that they're 00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:38.259 protecting people so that they could go ahead 00:19:38.259 --> 00:19:41.599 and say whatever they want to. Like, no, that's 00:19:41.599 --> 00:19:44.500 not what's happening here. You don't have shit 00:19:44.500 --> 00:19:47.039 to say about the First Amendment because you're 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:49.660 not the government. You're not somebody who's 00:19:49.660 --> 00:19:53.130 opposing the government, okay? There is no First 00:19:53.130 --> 00:19:56.650 Amendment free speech bullshit involved in this 00:19:56.650 --> 00:20:02.990 case at all, okay? Elon, Zucky, y 'all a bunch 00:20:02.990 --> 00:20:07.670 of dicks, okay? You could, if you want to, fact 00:20:07.670 --> 00:20:10.029 -check people, prevent people from posting things 00:20:10.029 --> 00:20:12.549 that are obscene, things that, you know, are, 00:20:12.769 --> 00:20:15.349 you know, denigrating to particular groups of 00:20:15.349 --> 00:20:17.809 people. You can make your platform more inviting. 00:20:18.009 --> 00:20:21.140 You just choose not to. You just choose not to. 00:20:21.160 --> 00:20:24.339 I wonder why. But you're choosing not to. Don't 00:20:24.339 --> 00:20:26.359 try to lie to me, right? Don't piss on my leg 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:28.539 and tell me it's raining, okay? Don't tell me 00:20:28.539 --> 00:20:30.900 that you're protecting free speech when in reality 00:20:30.900 --> 00:20:35.519 you're making an active choice to not moderate 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:39.019 your platform either because you're too lazy 00:20:39.019 --> 00:20:41.559 to go ahead and do so or because you're actively 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:46.000 not wanting to police it so that you can, I don't 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:50.440 know, make more profit, okay? So honestly, here's 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:52.180 what I think, okay? At the end of the day, the 00:20:52.180 --> 00:20:53.500 only thing that I think will get through the 00:20:53.500 --> 00:20:55.099 company's head will be where it actually counts, 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:57.200 which is in their pockets. You need to actually 00:20:57.200 --> 00:21:00.519 hurt the money, okay? I've already done this. 00:21:00.539 --> 00:21:02.720 I don't know if other people will follow suit, 00:21:02.859 --> 00:21:05.799 but I have deactivated all of my social media 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:08.400 platforms, mostly because I think they're just 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:11.220 bad for me, but also I think it's just not good 00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:13.319 for humanity in general. I think a lot of these 00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:15.779 people have created something that could be convenient, 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:18.279 could be useful, but when it's not moderated 00:21:18.279 --> 00:21:20.880 properly, then it turns into a big shit show, 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:24.069 which is what most of social media is. Honestly, 00:21:24.190 --> 00:21:26.970 the last time I was on Instagram, I just thought 00:21:26.970 --> 00:21:29.289 it was nothing but advertisement with every once 00:21:29.289 --> 00:21:31.490 in a while baby photos from friends. And I'm 00:21:31.490 --> 00:21:33.710 like, I'd rather just have friends just send 00:21:33.710 --> 00:21:37.130 me one of those Christmas cards with their family 00:21:37.130 --> 00:21:40.609 photo on it once a year than to look through 00:21:40.609 --> 00:21:44.509 a bunch of ads before I get to a picture of them. 00:21:44.890 --> 00:21:49.549 So look, it's up to you. It's up to you. Again, 00:21:49.630 --> 00:21:51.490 this is your choice. This is the freedom that 00:21:51.490 --> 00:21:55.069 you have as a consumer to engage with these companies 00:21:55.069 --> 00:21:57.430 in the way you want to. But the only thing that 00:21:57.430 --> 00:21:58.849 at the end of the day, I think will actually 00:21:58.849 --> 00:22:01.009 make a difference for how they moderate the platform 00:22:01.009 --> 00:22:04.470 is people realize that these platforms are just 00:22:04.470 --> 00:22:07.410 toxic and that it's better just to stay off of 00:22:07.410 --> 00:22:10.049 it. It'll encourage them to at least change the 00:22:10.049 --> 00:22:12.990 way that they, you know, moderate their platform 00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:15.910 so that they could, so that they actually get 00:22:15.910 --> 00:22:17.930 their act together and then make it a place that. 00:22:18.460 --> 00:22:21.259 isn't just full of nothing but ads and trolls, 00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:24.359 okay? So if you don't like the environment on 00:22:24.359 --> 00:22:26.200 these platforms, the best thing to do is just 00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:28.920 simply delete your account and move on from that 00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:31.740 platform. Find one that has better community 00:22:31.740 --> 00:22:34.819 standards, okay? That don't allow dicks to go 00:22:34.819 --> 00:22:38.400 off spouting out there and stirring up shit just 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:41.240 for the sake of stirring up shit, okay? Or a 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:43.460 second best thing is just set as many things 00:22:43.460 --> 00:22:45.859 to private as possible and only engage with a 00:22:45.859 --> 00:22:48.160 very small circle on these platforms. Okay. I 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:49.839 guarantee you that's going to hurt their bottom 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:53.869 line too. If you take back the control and you 00:22:53.869 --> 00:22:58.509 say, hey, I'm not going to be following a bunch 00:22:58.509 --> 00:23:01.029 of people but very small circle friends and I'm 00:23:01.029 --> 00:23:03.569 just going to use it for my actual small knit 00:23:03.569 --> 00:23:06.890 close community instead of trying to use it as 00:23:06.890 --> 00:23:10.069 a way to market or to get my name out there. 00:23:10.150 --> 00:23:11.509 If you don't try to use it for all the other 00:23:11.509 --> 00:23:14.069 things and keep it small, it'll hurt their bottom 00:23:14.069 --> 00:23:17.250 line. And enough people doing this, it's going 00:23:17.250 --> 00:23:19.190 to make a difference. It's going to impact the 00:23:19.190 --> 00:23:21.829 money. And once it impacts the money, then that's 00:23:21.829 --> 00:23:23.470 when companies tend to get their act together. 00:23:23.730 --> 00:23:27.869 This is why, you know, long term collective action 00:23:27.869 --> 00:23:30.309 in terms of like boycotting and things like that 00:23:30.309 --> 00:23:34.230 often can be effective if it's sustained. Right. 00:23:34.809 --> 00:23:37.750 Until policies and practices actually change. 00:23:37.910 --> 00:23:40.599 But, you know, it's up to you. If you want to 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:42.799 be in this toxic environment, that's fine. I 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:46.660 choose not to be, but that's me. But all I want 00:23:46.660 --> 00:23:49.160 is for everyone to be on the same page here and 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:52.640 know the truth, which is that all of this shit 00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:56.960 that's happening about social media CEOs claiming 00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:59.480 that they're trying to protect free speech, just 00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:02.009 call them out on their bullshit. That clearly 00:24:02.009 --> 00:24:05.069 is, they're clearly preying on people not actually 00:24:05.069 --> 00:24:08.109 understanding how the First Amendment works and 00:24:08.109 --> 00:24:10.109 then just assuming that you're going to go along 00:24:10.109 --> 00:24:12.670 with it because you have a God -given American 00:24:12.670 --> 00:24:14.509 right to go ahead and just say whatever the fuck 00:24:14.509 --> 00:24:17.029 you want to, okay? This is not how it works, 00:24:17.049 --> 00:24:19.470 at least not on a social media platform, okay? 00:24:19.789 --> 00:24:22.690 These lazy fucks are deciding not to do what 00:24:22.690 --> 00:24:25.569 it is that they have absolute 100 % right to 00:24:25.569 --> 00:24:28.309 go ahead and do on their own platform. So call 00:24:28.309 --> 00:24:30.940 them out for it. And if you don't like the toxic 00:24:30.940 --> 00:24:35.240 environment there, join me and just deactivate 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:38.619 everything. Delete it off your phone. Don't ever 00:24:38.619 --> 00:24:40.920 go to their website again. Let's be honest, most 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:45.220 of it is shit anyways, right? All right. I hope 00:24:45.220 --> 00:24:48.359 that, I hope somebody can start a movement here 00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:52.980 because, oh, I just can't. I just can't. I just 00:24:52.980 --> 00:24:54.539 can't with these social media companies.