fandomhigh | Ethics, Monday, September 25, 2017

"If any of you watched American football yesterday, you probably noticed a huge controversy that has been kicked up by the President of that country," Anakin said.

"He commanded football players to stay upright while the national anthem is played, rather than kneeling in protest," Obi-Wan said mildly. "It went over about as smoothly as one would expect."

"Not at all," Anakin said with a snort, "as he's not an emperor or a dictator, even though he badly wishes to be one. This has started a discussion about the right of people to speak freely, and what limitaAtions--if any--can be imposed on them in a public sphere."

"The United States has a fairly total and strong view of what freedom of speech is," Obi-Wan continued. "No law may be passed by Congress, or any other government body, that would prohibit someone to speak their mind. Other countries on this planet take a more complicated view - ranging from dictators who make it illegal to speak up at all, to Germany. That country once went to war with genocidal intent; once they were pulled from that brink, they devised a law to make certain speech with genocidal intent illegal. Its neighboring countries have provisions about what they dub hate speech, and so on."

Anakin nodded. "Free speech here means what the government itself can punish you for expressing, not your fellow citizens or your private employers. If someone proclaims a moron opinion, you are very free to say 'that is a stupid thing to believe and I'm telling you so.'"

Which, really, was one of Anakin's favorite things to do. He wasn't very restrained on his opinions.

"Free speech laws do not cover what a company can or cannot do to its products or those in its employ," Obi-Wan said, "Nor whether a media company chooses to give someone a platform. Now, our question to you is twofold. One, do you believe the United States has it right? Two, in an ideal world, how would you legislate free speech?"