Poor, put-upon, persecuted actor Adam Baldwin has scurried away from Twitter, taking his toys and going home, as it were, in protest of the social media platform’s new Trust and Safety Council. Don’t let the doorknob hit you on the way out, dude.

Baldwin has left his Twitter account open—to continue to be validated by his number of Twitter followers, I guess?—but has deleted all but the above tweet in his feed, which expresses his desire for Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to be fired, and the Trust and Safety Council (to which Feminist Frequency founder, Anita Sarkeesian, was named, among others) to be disbanded. He links to an article at Conservative website The Federalist that basically asserts that the Trust and Safety Council is an “attack on free speech.”

Sigh. A couple of things to remember, kids:

1) “Free speech” applies to what the government allows you to say or not say. The fact that you can’t be impeded or arrested by the state for holding or expressing any particular set of beliefs is what the First Amendment protects (which is why the KKK is still allowed to operate, for example). It does not protect you against the policies of private organizations or individuals (which is why individual companies and land owners are free to deny the KKK’s requests to hold rallies at their venue, or deny their press pitches), nor does it protect you from experiencing the free speech of OTHER people. We’re all allowed free speech.

So, you’re free to spew all the hateful talk you want, and others are free to call that bullshit. That’s how this works. The fact that you can write a post on The Federalist, or leave a parting tweet on Twitter, means you have free speech. No one has taken or can take that away from you.

2) As an organization, Twitter is taking it upon themselves—which they have every right to do—to make the environment in which their users operate a safer place by recognizing that there’s a huge difference between expressing a differing viewpoint and targeting someone because of their gender/race/body type/sexuality/etc. There’s an even bigger difference between expressing a differing viewpoint and actively organizing a campaign in which to cause someone mental, emotional, or physical harm. The fact that Twitter is recognizing that life online IS real life—not some separate, amorphous-and-so-not-that-serious alternate life—and therefore the actions within it can cause “real world” harm is a huge step in the right direction.

3) Of course, Baldwin and others are free to protest this decision any way they like. (See 1 again.) No one is saying they can’t, but for users to assert that Twitter’s decision to form this council in any way affects the way the company does business only confirms that those complaining are either up to, or tacitly support, some pretty nefarious business, not merely “expressing unpopular views.” It’s also inaccurate and ignorant.

4) This is not an “attack on Conservative users”—unless you’re saying that all Conservatives are not only sexist, racist, and classist, but that they also shouldn’t be stopped when they turn those beliefs into action against other people via the Internet. However, I know for a fact that not all Conservatives think that any of that is okay. I count many Conservatives in my friend group, and while we disagree politically, I know that they would never condone things like harassment, or doxxing, or any of the other abusive behaviors the Trust and Safety Council has been designed to combat. I know for a fact that there are plenty of Conservatives who think that Donald Trump and his supporters flinging gender-based attacks at Fox News’ Megyn Kelly is not cool.

Stop acting as though this “attacks all Conservatives.” It doesn’t. Twitter is trying to protect their users from people like you who would either do others harm, or condone and encourage other people in that pursuit, tacitly or otherwise. The Trust and Safety Council is about very specific actions, not combating Conservatives in general.

There are plenty of other forums in which to do that – namely, in the voting booth.

Adam Baldwin has a history of irresponsibly aiding in the harassment of others, as well as engaging in harassment himself—over and over again. Don’t cry for him, America. The truth is: He doesn’t deserve it.

(via Contact Music)

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