Decided to finally create a thread about this topic because I keep seeing Westerners talk about it online, and especially in regards to Cancel Culture. It's getting really annoying as it seems most Westerners do not even understand the simplicest of concepts when it comes to "freedom of speech". This is the logic I use to try and figure out if in fact someone's speech has been banned or curtailed:
I picture a person standing on a box with a blow horn in his hand speaking to a crowd similar to this picture:
1. If I take the person's soap box away, have I curtailed their speech? No, I have not. The person can still say whatever they wish and to whomever will listen.
2. If I take the person's megaphone away, have I curtailed their speech? No, I have not. The person can still say whatever they wish and to whomever will listen, they will just have to use more energy to do so.
3. If I take the person's crowd away (cancel culture), have I banned their speech?
No, I have not. The person can still say whatever they wish, it's just that no one is listening anymore.4. If I hold the person down and staple their lip's shut, have I banned their speech? No, I have only limited it. If the person still has both hands they can write, type, and perform sign language.
5. If I throw a person in prison for something they said and banned them from speaking or writing to anyone, have I banned their speech? Yes!
6. If I kill someone for something they said, have I banned their speech? Yes, I have!
I think a lot of human-beings these days confuse 'freedom of speech' with the 'I deserve to be heard' belief. I suspect if you asked most of these people why they feel like they deserve to be heard most of them would say something along the lines of, "because I'm a human-being and all people deserve to be heard!". That's about the gist of it all I think in regards to this topic, no?
I believe that most people's feeling of entitlement regarding speech these days stems from social media and the egalitarianism that it promotes.