Conservative talkshow host Erick Erickson tore into “moron” Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday after she claimed “hate speech” did not count as “free speech” and would be targeted by her office.
“Someone needs to explain to Ms. Bondi that so-called ‘hate speech,’ repulsive though it may be, is protected by the First Amendment. She should know this,” weighed in Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume
The first amendment protects the freedom of speech against government punishment. It does not protect the speaker from the repercussions from private individuals and companies they might work for or interact with.
When MAGAts were getting doxxed and fired from for dumb shit they said online, that is the explanation they received. It was the truth.
We may not like it, but leftist people getting doxxed and fired for shit they say online is exactly the same situation. US companies can fire people for speech they don’t like or don’t wish to be associated with. That’s just reality.
Don’t say controversial shit online under your IRL identity.
Now if the regime starts going after free speech as they are threatening to, that’s actually a problem.
Her current talking point was that hate speech is not free speech, and the government will come after you.
She later clarified that isn’t what she meant, but her initial implication was that big brother will get you for voicing your opinion.
Originally she said:
The kind of ignores the fact that government behind the scenes leans on social media to ban users they do not like as was seen with the Homeland Security Department. They got cause from the far right and then predictably used it more against the left.
Or with israel, you won’t get banned for what you are getting banned for, they find some other pretext and because we have a zero rights online they don’t have to find something that is actually against their rules to ban you.
Social media is a public utility and needs to be regulated as such. It should be still at the state level as the feds will not do it in any good way. We should have a right to Fair enforcement of the rules, to know the decisions that went to into taking enforcement actions, and being able to appeal to a jury of our peers or whatever.