Are you in an Anti-Free speech state?

[A2SG]

Exactly right. Excellent idea. If you don't want your kids to read a certain book then you sit them down and say 'I don't want you to read this book.'

Might be a better idea to nag them TO read the book. When I was a kid, nothing made me not want to do something more than my parents nagging me to do it.

On the other hand, if I were told to not read a book, I'd probably be racing to read it.

-- A2SG, did manage to read a lot of good books that way, though.....

 

[Bradskii]

Might be a better idea to nag them TO read the book. When I was a kid, nothing made me not want to do something more than my parents nagging me to do it.

We used to do exactly that with our daughter in reverse. She'd often refuse to go for her nightly bath when she was young. So my wife would ask me, in front of her, to run the water for the bath. Nope. No way. She just splashes around and plays with her toys. Forget it. And we'd have this pretend argument and our daughter would eventually say 'Hey, you can't stop me having a bath! Tell him, mum!'

 

[A2SG]

We used to do exactly that with our daughter in reverse. She'd often refuse to go for her nightly bath when she was young. So my wife would ask me, in front of her, to run the water for the bath. Nope. No way. She just splashes around and plays with her toys. Forget it. And we'd have this pretend argument and our daughter would eventually say 'Hey, you can't stop me having a bath! Tell him, mum!'

I know, for a fact, that my mother got me to read more than a couple books by saying I can't read them. I remember clearly reading To Kill A Mockingbird specifically because of that...and boy, am I glad I did! Great book.

I also remember in Jr. High having to read Cheaper By The Dozen for a class, and something about the teacher's attitude ("you kids don't read, so I'm going to force you to") bugged me (I was very much a voracious reader) so I deliberately decided not to read it. During class discussions, I paid attention to what was being said about it, and when it came time to take a test on the book, I got a B. Afterwards, the book sounded interesting, so I read it.

-- A2SG, it was okay, but probably ultimately not worth the fuss I made about it.....

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Sec 230 makes some sense in a lot of ways. Are you proposing it be overturned once and for all because the lingering threat of it being overturned gives congress potential leverage over the companies?

Actually, my position is the opposite, I think it should be strengthened.

Social media companies shouldn't be liable for user-posted content anymore than AT&T should be held liable if someone phones in a bomb threat using a cell phone that happens to hit AT&T towers.


While the "up in the air/at risk being tossed out" ethos does give congress undue leverage, I don't think the answer for them is to scrap it, I think the answer is for them to not overstep their boundaries with regards to the State Actor Doctrine and the limitations it imposes on what private organizations can (or cannot) do when acting at the behest of the government.