On Free Speech.

[sarren]

My interaction with the internetz has been to not engage in controversial matters, to not express an opinion that people might take ‘the wrong way’, especially in their own journals. Because fandom IS my happy place, I feel I engage on subjects that are important to me in real life quite enough

Comments

[zebra363]

I do think there's an element of people jumping on the bandwagon to make critical posts because it seems to be the in thing to do, but how much of a factor that is of course I can't say. I wonder how many of them also write to TV companies to protest problematic things on screen.

and inadvertently hurt someone, therefore it was inappropriate

In this specific case, maybe so, but as a general rule I think this is too high a standard to try to hold yourself to. You can't possibly foresee everything that someone will find offensive/hurtful.

[kremmen]

Not only can you not foresee it, but it might be worth questioning whether it makes any sense to try. Where do you draw the line? "Lynch mob" is a standard phrase in English with no racial overtone in its definition (e.g. Cambridge Dictionary "lynch mob" noun: a group of people who want to attack someone who they think has committed a serious crime) nor, to my knowledge, in its usage at any point in this country. Let's go further along the track. What about images? Showing women in skirts or showing bare shoulders could offend muslims. Does that mean we shouldn't display such photos online?

If we were to restrict our communications to that which will not offend anyone, it would not only be too "high" a standard to hold ourselves to, but seriously blows the whole concept of freedom of expression to bits.