A censorship drive has begun at BlogSpot, the host of this and millions of other blogs.
It's Blogger.com's attempt to get a handle on objectionable blogs which feature hate speech, illegal forms of communication and other “objectionable” (their word) types of blogs.
The means by which they are attempting to do this is causing great concern in this community.
As you can see at the top of this blog (and all other blogspot blogs), there is a flag button at the top which allows the viewer to flag the blog and report it to Blogger. There's nothing wrong with that part of it.
What's causing concern is that Blogger doesn't define what “objectionable” means. Objectionable to whom?
Does it mean blogs that express hatred for a group of people?
Does it mean blogs that criticize the government?
Does it mean blogs that criticize Democratic or Liberal stands on issues?
Does it mean blogs that criticize the Republicans or Conservative stands on
issues?
Does it mean blogs that criticize bad court decisions?
Does it mean blogs that profess the Gospels of Jesus Christ as the way to salvation?
Does it mean blogs that call for the violent overthrow of the United States Government and the establishment of a communist thug state with no Bill of Rights?
Or threats of violence against specific federal government officals which would lead to a visit from the Secret Service?
What, then?
Here's the explanation that Blogger is giving to everyone as to how it works and what the stand on hate speech is:
When a person visiting a blog clicks the "Flag?" button in the Blogger Navbar, it means they believe the content of the blog may be potentially offensive or illegal. We track the number of times a blog has been flagged as objectionable and use this information to determine what action is needed. This feature allows the blogging community as a whole to identify content they deem objectionable. Have you read The Wisdom of Crowds? It's sort of like that.
Special Case for Hate Speech
When the community has voted and hate speech is identified on Blog*Spot, Google may exercise its right to place a Content Warning page in front of the blog and set it to "unlisted."
So, if I put a post up here objecting to something that my heart and head are telling me is dead wrong, or absolutely correct, if someone disagrees, they can flag it as “objectionable” and have their friends who are in agreement with them flag it as well, it could well be labeled as offensive, which could lead to the labeling above or outright deletion of the entire blog.
That's supression of my opinion. If it's supression of my opinion, I would like the name, address and telephone number of the attorney or judge who will be reviewing my writing to determine if it's “objectionable” and is deserving of punishment.
And I want in-person appointments with those individuals to discuss the merits of the First Amendment and equal protection. Further, I want them to pay for at least half of my travel expenses. And I want Blogger to pay for lost wages and any legal consultation fees.
It should also be pointed out that while two or ten or twelve might object to something that I say here and flag it, what about the two or ten or twelve that agree with my opinion on something but cannot push a button to say that they agree with me? How does Blogger monitor that?
While I deplore hate speech, hate crime and bigotry in general, I am also in favor of fair and equal treatment under the protections of the Constitution.
There are first-class fools out there endorsing the killing and enslavement of entire groups of people and there are fools out there who are impressionable enough to believe the propaganda and go out and do it, regardless of the consequences. These types of blogs should be monitored and stopped if necessary.
But legitimate free speech, political discourse and personal opinions (which others might disagree with) should be protected from being judged as "objectionable" by a part of the community who has a mere difference of opinion.
My suggestion to Blogger is to keep the flag button to report stuff, but do an internal investigation of a blog to determine if it violates the Terms of Service and take action accordingly.
I will not flag any blogger that is merely expressing an opinion (which I may or may not object to). That's what comments are for AND e-mails.
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