Calls to censor offensive Facebook page are wrong
Oct 10, 2014, 1:20 PM | Updated: 2:42 pm
(AP Photo)
After a very compelling interview on the Dori Monson Show with Kim Renninger, whose husband Mark Renninger of the Lake Police Officers was shot and killed in an ambush attack on him and 3 colleagues, the Ron and Don Show took to task an offensive and hateful Facebook page that used graphic images to mock dead police officers and spew hateful anti-cop propaganda. A photo of Officer Renninger can be found on the page. It’s a disturbing page.
On Thursday night, Ron & Don encouraged listeners to report that page to Facebook with hopes that it would be removed. Don argued that “these are not images you’d see on the evening news; these are images you’d see in horror movies.” He went on to detail some of the offensive photos. Ron explained the procedure listeners could go through to report the page to Facebook.
For their part, Facebook contends the site doesn’t violate any terms of service (my cursory review of the page tends to agree with that assessment, though they certainly seem to push the line). It’s also important to note that they only have less than 500 ‘likes’ on their page.
With respect to the justified disgust Ron and Don and others in our community have with this Facebook page, we should not encourage censorship of any kind — particularly if you work in or are fans of talk radio, where “controversial” opinions are espoused on a daily (or nightly) basis. Promoting censorship is a very dangerous game, a game where there are no winners. As vile as you and I find the Facebook page to be, it’s clearly protected speech outside of Facebook. It’s, in essence, a political page. They’re making political arguments.
Among the political statements they make, they post photos of two young black youths holding signs that read “Stop police brutality. No Justice, No Peace.” The page links to an anti-cop Tupac rap. They post a poem that reads in part: “We’ll beat you up until you’re black and blue. Even with your hands up, we will shoot you.”
They’re making political arguments – some no different than the arguments made by protesters in Ferguson, MO (though certainly this Facebook page is significantly more offensive).
Is some of the content on this page vile? Absolutely. I don’t agree with anything I’ve read on the page, but we shouldn’t censor content we simply disagree with, even if we do find it offensive.
A friend of mine told me something that will forever stick with me: imagine the power to censor in the hands of your worst enemy. While I agree with the sentiment around the disgusting page, you’re better off shining a light on the content and fighting back with your words, and ideas, and beliefs, and principles, rather than trying to shut it down. Rather than report the page, you should engage it with intellect, reason, and logic.
Fight nasty, offensive speech with more speech – pure speech. Shine a line on the nastiness and defeat it with reason. We live in a society where we’re at our best when we engage with people who disagree with us, even when we’re offended by their opinion. We know they’re wrong… so let’s prove it with our own speech. There are more of us than them. But what if they had the power to shut us up? Imagine the power to censor in the hands of your worst enemy. What if someone doesn’t like that I support a number of issues I support on air? Should I be censored because someone is “offended” by my ideas? Wouldn’t we all be better off with more speech, not less, especially when more speech could include you making an argument against whatever it is I’m supporting?
Now, it’s true that some people, especially Internet trolls, will never listen to anything you and I have to say. OK fine. Let them be ignorant. We have the ultimate power to both ignore them, but also put out into our communities civil, engaging dialogue without having to censor people. We’re better than silencing “offensive” comments because, especially in this case, we have compassion and reason and logic on our side.
I’d love to hear from you. Please submit your thoughts below for a discussion, especially if you disagree with me.