Butch opened this issue on Feb 05, 2004 ยท 59 posts
mickmca posted Thu, 05 February 2004 at 8:26 AM
The issue of whether to censor is a bit complicated, though if I had to vote, I wouldn't vote to take the thing down. The complication is that people are struggling to understand the logic and worldview, if you like, of the TOS, and when something like this is allowed, they wonder why. The fact is, there is no logic or worldview in the TOS; it merely attempts to codify the whims of the PTB. The hate-mongering in the post (image and text) is so abstract that it doesn't strike me as deserving censorship, unless it violates the TOS. Personally, I don't believe in censorship, in the sense that it involves a higher authority which claims to be acting in my behalf. I do believe, strongly, in exercising personal responsibility. It is not "censorship" for a video game seller to refuse to stock Doom, GTA, or Custer's Revenge. He has a right to sell what he pleases; he is not obliged to pander to the LCD. It is not censorship for a publishing house to refuse to publish Mein Kampf or American Psycho, no more than it is censorship for me to refuse to buy them. And if I urge others not to buy or sell them, that is not censorship, either. If individuals took responsibility for these things, censorship would be superfluous. And when the horse is dead, so will our consciences be. M