Lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to freedom of speech. What a lovely concept that is…but unfortunately not completely true. See freedom of speech exists only as long as the powers that be allow it. Make no mistake if a group wants to shut you up, if it’s large enough, powerful enough, it will.
Freedom of speech only exists as a concept. Like for example what I write here. It certainly is my expression of freedom of speech. But what happens when you’re part of something ‘group specific’. Does freedom of speech still apply?
The reason I bring this up is because I belong to a lot of online groups that all have their specific purpose or interest. Lately some of these groups have come under fire for trying to stay group specific, which I believe they have a right to do, since that was how they were set up.
What happens when some people try to change the purpose of the group? Is it simply a case of freedom of speech or does it cross the line? Should a group be able to determine what should and should not be allowed on a specific site, if the site was originally intended for specific discussions?
These are the questions I find myself asking today. I’m not sure I’ve come to any conclusion. My knee jerk reaction is to say if a group has been established to discuss beenie babies and some one comes in touting GI Joe, then that group has every right to say, “Hey go to the GI Joe group if you want to talk about that stuff. We only discuss beenie babies here.”
February 10th, 2003
