I didn't realize that Nicki and Willy were calling people names while ordering mobilizations.

yeah you got your wars mixed up there dD lol

Some free speech is not worth defending, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

“With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.” – Judge Aaron Satie, Star Trek: The Next Generation

The fallacy of the slippery slope.
If I walk up to your mother and call her whore are you going to still defend my right to free speech?

Absolutely.

^yeah, because I legitimately do not give a fuck what someone on the Internet calls me/a friend/a family member/etc.

Not online. In person. Realistically you are going to punch me in the face.
You can't defend your mother abd defend my free speech at the same time.
Thus *some free speech is not worth defending.

No, I'm not. I don't believe in violence.

And my mother would be ashamed of me if I punched you in the face for calling her a whore.

Free speech is worth defending, but it does not have to be a black or white issue.

Yes, it does.

So what would you do smiley? Maybe I haven't pushed the right buttons but I am sure have buttons. There would be a limit. Unless you are Jesus or Gandhi?

No, I really don't. There's nothing you could say that would provoke me to physical violence.

There are obviously, things you could *do*. But I'd never use violence or force for only words. There has to be a physical reason.

I think being jesus or gandhi is something we should all aspire to

"The mods have long upheld a policy of free speech."

I believe it is the website's owner, and not the moderator whose policy this is. So don't point fingers at the mods.

"It should not be tolerated by any community."

Who says it is? One point of a free speech policy is to let people hang themselves. If someone is a jerk, it'll come back to haunt them.

Heck, use it to your advantage, get the others in the game to turn on him. But don't just say, "he offended me, let's all get him", use diplomacy. Say "What do you think of player X? He seems rather rude to me." and other such things to all the other countries. Turn them against him.

As my big brother taught me, don't let someone else being a jerk ruin YOUR day. I was probably 33 or so when I learned that lesson and it has really helped my outlook on life.

If you enjoy this game and enjoy most of the people here, don't let a few jerks run you off and ruin your fun.

Or you can throw a tantrum and leave. Won't ruin MY day. Good luck!

Actually I'm not going to punch you in the face in person, either, because I really... seriously... do not give a fuck. And it's not from a lack of respect for my mom, either. She's obviously not a whore and doesn't need defending, so I'd just laugh you off and go on my merry way.

This whole notion that I have to defend her assumes you have some sort of compelling power behind your words from which I have to defend her. Fact is, you don't.

There are other types of defense other than violence. You could take out a restraining order if my name calling became harrassment. At some point you are going to want restrain my free speech.

@Ald: You're right, obviously. It's Kestas's policy, not the Mods.

Spyman: Your mother is a whore.

If your name calling becomes harassment worthy of a restraining order, I'm getting the restraining order because you're harassing her, not because you're calling her a name. Subtle difference but the distinction is important.

How about slander? Do anti-libel laws impinge free speech?

"If I walk up to your mother and call her whore are you going to still defend my right to free speech?"

Punching you in the face is the only way of defending my mother? Nonsense. I'd look at her and look at you and say to her that you are a real jerk. But if pressed I'd say you had a right to be a jerk.

And it wouldn't ruin my day either. You know why? Because you calling my mother a whore is a reflection of you, not my mother. Unless she was a whore of course. Either way, there's no problem to resolve. Call her a whore all you want.

Also note that the free speech policy of this website does have limits. You can't claim the game made an error when you know it hasn't. You can't accuse someone of cheating on the forum.

Just like in the real world how you can't yell fire in a crowded theater or that you run the risk of being sued if you slander someone.

Spyman there is actually a difference between free speech and free press, imo.

The New York Times does not have the same freedoms Joe Public in the barbershop has. That's because people believe the things NYT et al print, but no one expects what Joe Public says to be true.

This is always so.... useless to talk about. There's nothing any of us can even do about it... so what's the point?

Alderian: exactly. This is the point I am making. Realistically free speech does have limits. It is not black and white.

As Smiley elegantly quoted, free speech, if not held up in principle, cannot be held up in practice. When people are in charge of what can be said, no democracy can thrive. Governed by their megalomania, a rabid constituency, or a misguided sense of right and wrong, leaders will all too often sacrifice a principle for a political gain. This is why we have a Constitution that forbids the limitation of speech in any way. Otherwise, you'd have people banning words left and right because they make them feel sick (?!).

Not that it's entirely relevant, but I'm Jewish too. So some idiot says kike...okay? He's an anti-Semitic shithead who has his own issues to work out. Or maybe he's just trying to piss off the ass-clenchers. Either way, I couldn't care less. It doesn't affect me. The only people it does affect are the "easily offended", those wonderful individuals who are so indifferent toward all the REAL problems in the world that they decide "saying mean things" is the thing they're going to get REALLY bothered about: "Concentration of wealth? Factory farming? War? Who gives a shit! That guy said chink, we gotta act now!"

So where do make the limits? Why is it worse to accuse some one of cheating than to call them a racist name? (I have not actually said the latter is wrong btw, and I am not 100% sure the former is wrong either)