Free speech surrounding coronavirus and it's impact in doubt

[Billie18]

YouTube Terminates TalkRADIO Channel Following Lockdown Criticism

twitter.com/MediaGuido/status/1346365871514660864

Whatever people think about the rights and wrongs of the lockdown this is a worrying move. Our rights to free speech are now being removed.

I agree that it's extremely worrying. Big tech monopolies, based thousands of miles away, are controlling what information is and isn't allowed to be shared in this country. I would disagree with a lot of the opinions held by those on TalkRadio but I will absolutely stand up for their right to share them. Censorship is also entirely futile as it just inflames the debate and convinces the conspiracy theorists that they were right all along.

They seem to be fixing a non-problem on our account. Almost 80% of our population has high vaccine trust and intend to get a covid vaccination and that's before a lack of vaccination is a barrier to travelling abroad, ect...despite the loud and dramatic chants of the anti-vaxxers that we are all exposed to.

I think the particular problem that we have in the UK is those who are mistrustful of vaccines are increasingly extreme in their view and this persecution complex they have won't be eased by closing down debate.

Sorry, bit of a tangent there. I think the broader concerns about lockdown need to be in the public domain.

I agree. This has been going on for sometime, not just since the pandemic started. I think lockdown is unpalatable and will have many negative consequences but right at the moment I can't see an effective alternative. I may not agree with the views expressed but censorship is a bigger threat.

So many people appear to think silencing those they disagree with is acceptable but don't seem to consider they too could be censored for wrong think at a different time.

I have heard some people describe ideas and opinions as "dangerous" which I completely disagree with, it's more dangerous for democracy to deny people the opportunity to speak, you can't challenge the silence censorship creates.

They’re a commercial platform though, free speech isn’t applied to this. There are rules and regulations you agree to when you sign up to platforms like YouTube, Facebook, even MN, they have a right to remove any content they deem unsuitable. TalkRadio can still operate on other platforms and free speech still lives on.

There was a thread about how busy or not hospitals are right now and perhaps some posters were sceptical ...I'm not but wanted to post about a woman on fb going round hospitals filming empty wards and waiting areas...anyway thread has gone..so mn not immune from this but to me it just adds to peoples doubts by culling comment.

There are rules and regulations you agree to when you sign up to platforms like YouTube, Facebook, even MN, they have a right to remove any content they deem unsuitable

This would be true if those platforms (MN excluded) were not monopolies. YouTube is the monopoly video content sharing platform, when they remove content it is effectively censorship. The problem is the fact that they are monopolies and any competitors are immediately crushed.