Should political views be a "protected category" like race and gender? Topics in this video: social media power, Reddit revolt, offensive speech, open internet, freedom of speech, online communities, discrimination, protected classes, gender, race, being an asshole, political bias, Chuck Johnson, death threats, religious bigotry, political retribution, essential services, and the meaning of liberalism and democracy.
(This was a one hour unscripted conversation that was edited down to bring you the most interesting parts.)
Key moments:
2:50 "Do you think being an asshole should be a protected category?"
3:50 Allum suggests that political beliefs should be a "protected class", and Greg kind of freaks out a little.
Some of the material that was cut in the interest of time: Should the government be encouraging competition from alternatives to Twitter and Facebook? Does "freedom of speech" sometimes need to mean "freedom from fear of retribution" or "freedom from (certain) consequences?" What is the real meaning of being a "libertarian"?
So what do you think? Are Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit like utilities that everyone should have the right to get access to? Does the government have a responsibility to make sure that all political opinions have an opportunity to be heard?
Should the government include "political beliefs" along-side gender, race, sexual orientation and religious beliefs as a special protected category when it comes to discrimination?
Let us know your thoughts!
If you have any questions or comments, or any suggestions for topics we can talk about in the future, let us know in the comments!
Check out Greg's personal blog, Twitter, and Facebook:
http://gregstevens.com/
https://twitter.com/gregstevens
https://facebook.com/gregtstevens
And follow Allum on Twitter and check out his articles at Breitbart:
https://twitter.com/LibertarianBlue
http://www.breitbart.com/author/allum-bokhari/
