Kennedy, an anti-vaccine crusader, is seeking support for a Democratic presidential run.

  • Drewski@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Yelling fire in a theater isn’t actually illegal, contrary to common belief. It’s a flawed paraphrasing of a 1969 Supreme Court ruling, Brandenburg v. Ohio, which held that speech which would be likely to incite imminent lawless action, such as a riot, is not protected under the First Amendment. Now if someone was injured due to a stampede they could and should be held liable, but the speech itself is not illegal.

    To your second example, if some idiot started shooting because someone yelled “gun” or “bomb” they would be charged with murder / manslaughter, or at the very least reckless use of a firearm, and lose their right to carry.

    I’m not opposed to removing videos that advocate violence, but I don’t think this video falls under that category.

    • augustwest77@reddthat.com
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      1 year ago

      The “fire in a theater” example is the most overused and misunderstood argument and I hate how people use it to argue against civil liberties.

      • rusticus@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        You mean like local governments and jurisdictions passing laws to prevent harmful speech like “fire” in a theater? There is over 100 years of history of laws being passed to prevent harmful speech. You don’t get to say something that harms people any more than you get to smoke a cigarette right next to me.

    • rusticus@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Your interpretation is incorrect as it my earlier link, there are clear local jurisdiction examples of laws that have been passed over the last 100 years to prevent this type of harmful speech. What is the purpose of government but to protect citizens from harm? There is no reasonable debate amongst any credible physician or scientist with an ounce of statistical knowledge that vaccines cause autism.