Online communities and free speech

Earlier this year, Scott Allen blogged about some of the ongoing debates he’s seen regarding online communities and free speech.

Some users seem to think that the right of free speech applies everywhere, when in reality, it doesn’t.

In fact, the very same right of free speech that allows people to say whatever they want also allows discussion list organizers and online community owners to choose not to carry certain kinds of speech.

In fact, read the user agreements of most online communities and you’ll find a whole host of prohibited speech that you might be able to say in other venues.

We fleshed out our original blog post into our latest column over at FastCompany.com: Free Speech and Censorship in Online Communities