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To be fair, Laci Green (part of MTV’s Youtube Channel) isn’t the only person who doesn’t understand what free speech truly is. Free speech isn’t just protection from government prosecution. It’s the freedom to say what you want, how you want and when you want it.

Sadly, this simple fact seems to elude Laci Green and the SJW-cabal. While it is true that free speech does not mean “freedom from social consequences”, we have to realize that “social consequences” can be worse than what the government can do to you. In a recent tweet chain, Laci Green, who is currently trying to DMCA/sue another Youtuber (Roaming Millennial appears to have been reported by Laci Green on Youtube) for using her image, had the following to say:

To which, I’ll address her points.

1. What is being stolen? For something to be stolen, the original must be removed. As far as I know, Laci, you are a public figure, and even though there are some restrictions to what can be used, see Hulk Hogan vs Gawker for example, your image that you have on your Twitter and Youtube accounts does not fall under those restrictions, plus your images are still there, so, nothing got stolen. And you may want to look up the Streisand Effect.

2. Yes, it does, otherwise magazines can’t make any money.

3. See the above quote by Ron Paul.

4. Actually, yes, Free Speech does, in fact, give you the right to any platform. Neo Nazis, KKK, Black Lives Matter, Scientologists are all allowed to have marches, demonstrations, public rallies, speeches where they want so long as what they don’t cause harm to others.

Laci’s idea that Free Speech only allows you to share your ideas, criticize people/governments and express yourself without government retaliation is true, but free speech is far more than just that.

While it seems hypocritical of some of us who cheered Gawker’s defeat and upcoming demise, there is a caveat to that, for me at least. For me, you have your freedoms, so long as those freedoms don’t harm other people. When Gawker posted Hulk Hogan’s sex tape and leaked Hogan saying the “N”-word that got him fired, in my mind, they lost their protections that the Freedom of Speech gives them. And Gawker harmed a LOT of people over the years. I won’t go into it here though.

If you want an example for what I mean, think about this: In the United States, all citizens have the right to purchase guns with few restrictions. They can do what they want with those guns. However, if they use said guns and kill someone, except in the case of self-defense or an accident, then that person loses their right to not only own a gun, but also walk around freely, as they will be put into prison.

The problem with SJWs (and a lot of places that aren’t ruled by open tyrants) is that they say they have freedoms for speech, but it is always regulated, and that goes against the very principle of what free speech is.

The mere idea that “freedom of speech” has restrictions is nearly an athenema to me. The only restrictions that free speech has EVER had are the following as outlined by the Supreme Court:

– Inciting violence or riots

Yeah, that’s it. There are slander and libel laws that exist to stop people from spreading lies that can harm a person’s reputation. More information can be found at the legal dictionary.

Now some people will say “there are restrictions on what you say when you go to schools or businesses”, and to that I say “yes, that is true“. There are, however, caveats to that as well. The first is, that for schools, you are supposed to be there to learn, nothing more. My teachers told me, in the 90s, that schools were dictatorships, not democracies, your rights were fairly limited in school. As for businesses, they exist to make money, not let you soap box on stuff, unless that’s how they make money, such as Gawker, Vice, or Vox.

Secondly, even the United States Supreme Court has stated that you still have your rights and freedoms in those places, though there are restrictions on them, based on the above.

So with that, I’ll leave you with one last piece of wisdom by Dr. Ron Paul:

Sources:

Legal dictionary

Laci Green REPORTED Me!? | Fair Use & Censorship

Philip DeFranco

TheCartoonPepe

Laci Green

***Disclaimer***

This is a personal opinion of the writer, and it doesn’t necessarily represent the other writers (nor The Gaming Ground´s) opinions.

***Disclosure***

I am not a fan of Laci Green. I am, however, a huge fan of Dr. Ron Paul and think that it was a crying shame that the RNC did all that it could to keep him from winning the nomination in 2012.



Phil Weigel

The Gaming Ground

Twitter: @SilverScarCat

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Tags: Fair use, Free speech, Laci Green, Philip DeFranco, SJWs, Youtube