Comment on How does South Park get away with trashing identifiable people? Are they sued often?
RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world 7 months agoIt should be noted that that really only applies to citizens being protected from the government. There is no legal precedent to indicate that it would apply between citizens.
That concept doesn’t really apply very well here.
The government can’t make laws restricting speech(with very limited exceptions) therefore other citizens can’t legally go after you for protected speech. They’re allowed to tell you you’re an asshole, they’re allowed to ignore you, but they don’t have a court case.
But all kinds of other laws protect citizens from other citizens. You can’t hurt them, can’t slander them, etcetc so there’s really not much most people can do.
peto@lemm.ee 7 months ago
There comes an issue when a private citizen seeks to use the engines of state to punish those whose speech offends them.
It’s one thing to withdraw society and business from someone who offends you, quite another to demand that the state crush them for you. Of course, most states will do that to a greater or lesser degree. No state extends an absolute freedom of speech.