Things happening in the world these days scare me – a lot. I don’t like to wade into arguments. But what I see going on around me is a willingness to “silence opposition” that is more pronounced than it’s ever been before. The recent controversy around Reddit anti-vax communities is the trigger that has me thinking. Thirty years ago, this issue would never have even gotten off the ground. The primary response would have been “Freedom of speech, man,” and that would have been the end of it. But that’s not what I see happening – the issue has traction, and there’s a strong pressure on Reddit to ban these communities.

There has always been a limitation on freedom of speech, captured by the old cliche “You can’t shout ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater. But that’s not applicable here. Shouting ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater creates a concern about immediate life threatening hazard, that potentially demands immediate action. The content of a computer forum simply cannot create that kind of immediacy. It is incumbent on each individual to thoughtfully consider the things they read in such a forum, and each reader is solely responsible for the results of his or her own actions.

We are systematically moving away from the fundamental values this nation was built on, and it’s a sad thing to watch. I’m getting older, and I won’t be around after a few more decades. But I hate seeing this happen to the world that my children and grandchildren will be living in on down the road.