6 ms·

I'm not american but it seems like americans are MORE free to speak their minds now than before in terms of being banned/silenced by dominating online platforms

AlecSchueler 4mo ago
The government literally removed research into trans-fats because of their transphobia. Much free speech
giwook 4mo ago
Not sure what you're trying to say here, but I get the sense you don't have enough information as to what's going on here (nothing wrong with that, I've been trying to tune out myself). Regardless: "...an increasing number of travelers report being questioned about legally protected online speech when crossing the border." https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/travel/airport-border-phone-search.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/travel/airport-border-pho...
- gardenhedge 4mo ago
  I am saying it "seems like americans are MORE free to speak their minds now than before in terms of being banned/silenced by dominating online platforms". Previously you could not post about certain subjects around covid, ivermectin, anything not in line with woke ideology, political scandals. Accounts would be banned. Communities were shut down on Reddit. High profile figures were banned from Twitter. Now you can post whatever you like on most of these platforms. That's not just me who thinks that by the way, it's a widely discussed thing. Zuckerberg even cited government pressure around content suppression and censorship. Do you disagree?
  - ceejayoz 4mo ago
    > High profile figures were banned from Twitter. One of Musk's first acts as owner was to do that. https://x.com/elonjet https://x.com/elonjet (and the journalists reporting on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2022_Twitter_suspensions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2022_Twitter_suspensi...) (After previously explicitly promising not to, citing… freedom of speech! https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1589414958508691456 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1589414958508691456) Bunch more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspensions_on_X#2023 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspensions_on_X#2023 > anything not in line with woke ideology How did so many Republican politicians survive on there?! > Now you can post whatever you like on most of these platforms. As long as it isn't the word "cisgender". https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/elon-musk-free-speech-twitter-will-treat-cisgender-slur https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/elon-musk-free-speec... Or a link to Mastodon. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63999452 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63999452 > Zuckerberg even cited government pressure around content suppression and censorship. To curry favor with the new admin, sure. > Accounts would be banned. Communities were shut down on Reddit. This happens regularly, today. https://www.reddit.com/r/BannedSubs/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BannedSubs/
    - gardenhedge 4mo ago
      Even with these examples, my comment still stands. I guess it could show how bad it was before!
  - giwook 4mo ago
    Got it. I'm now picking up on your point given the implied political bias that your comment hints at. I don't want to resurrect this long-dead debate as I take it you are not pro-science.
    - gardenhedge 4mo ago
      It sounds like you've brought baggage to the conversation. HN is not the place for that.

AlecSchueler 4mo ago

The government literally removed research into trans-fats because of their transphobia. Much free speech

giwook 4mo ago

Not sure what you're trying to say here, but I get the sense you don't have enough information as to what's going on here (nothing wrong with that, I've been trying to tune out myself). Regardless: "...an increasing number of travelers report being questioned about legally protected online speech when crossing the border." https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/travel/airport-border-phone-search.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/travel/airport-border-pho...

gardenhedge 4mo ago
I am saying it "seems like americans are MORE free to speak their minds now than before in terms of being banned/silenced by dominating online platforms". Previously you could not post about certain subjects around covid, ivermectin, anything not in line with woke ideology, political scandals. Accounts would be banned. Communities were shut down on Reddit. High profile figures were banned from Twitter. Now you can post whatever you like on most of these platforms. That's not just me who thinks that by the way, it's a widely discussed thing. Zuckerberg even cited government pressure around content suppression and censorship. Do you disagree?
- ceejayoz 4mo ago
  > High profile figures were banned from Twitter. One of Musk's first acts as owner was to do that. https://x.com/elonjet https://x.com/elonjet (and the journalists reporting on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2022_Twitter_suspensions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2022_Twitter_suspensi...) (After previously explicitly promising not to, citing… freedom of speech! https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1589414958508691456 https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1589414958508691456) Bunch more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspensions_on_X#2023 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspensions_on_X#2023 > anything not in line with woke ideology How did so many Republican politicians survive on there?! > Now you can post whatever you like on most of these platforms. As long as it isn't the word "cisgender". https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/elon-musk-free-speech-twitter-will-treat-cisgender-slur https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/06/elon-musk-free-speec... Or a link to Mastodon. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63999452 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-63999452 > Zuckerberg even cited government pressure around content suppression and censorship. To curry favor with the new admin, sure. > Accounts would be banned. Communities were shut down on Reddit. This happens regularly, today. https://www.reddit.com/r/BannedSubs/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BannedSubs/
  - gardenhedge 4mo ago
    Even with these examples, my comment still stands. I guess it could show how bad it was before!
- giwook 4mo ago
  Got it. I'm now picking up on your point given the implied political bias that your comment hints at. I don't want to resurrect this long-dead debate as I take it you are not pro-science.
  - gardenhedge 4mo ago
    It sounds like you've brought baggage to the conversation. HN is not the place for that.