"Comrades, our dear leader has decreed that now is indeed the time! The bourgeoisie has been defeated and humbed, and now our dear leader offers us the gift of free speech!
"From Monday, if anyone wishes to say anything at all, even wicked lies critical of the People's Republic, he or she may do so, simply by visiting one of the new free speech booths being erected around the country! You may enter these soundproof constructions, one at a time, and say whatever you wish! No more can people complain that there is no free speech!
"Seditious lies uttered outside the booths will continue to be punished in the usual ways. Long live the revolution and our beloved leader!"
Dear friends, your dear Djubre is on the edge of the law in Gaia, for another accusation of posting inflammatory statements and he shall be banned. In public, this is wrong, but on PM's, it cannot be prevented. Similar to how Roleplaying threads advise "No cybering, take that s**t to PMs", the above scenario is somewhat similar. What is being offered in the People's Republic is clearly not free speech. Freedom of speech isn't just about saying what you want, but saying it to whom you want, and when you want. Saying that the free speech booths promote freedom of speech is like saying that a computer that can only make Google searches is connected to the Internet.
Free speech is absolute, some may argue. This would give you the right to stand up in a theatre and yell "FIRE", or walking up to someone and accusing them of being a *****. The moment you start to make exceptions and say that some free speech cannot be allowed, you are back with censorship.
The price we pay for our freedom is the inconvenience of having to hear people tell lies from time to time.
We must, as Voltaire suggested, defend to the death the rights of people who say what we may strongly disagree with.
The sticks and stones theory can be seen at work here, but it is not always so. When someone yells "FIRE" in a crowded theatre, the stampede caused by evacuating people may injure someone in the panic that follows. False allegations can ruin lives. Just as there is no real free speech in the booths of the People's Republic, it is equally evident that true freedom does not entail the right to say anything, any time, anywhere.
So then, what is free speech?
If you support the notion of free speech, show your support and grab one of the above banners.
