Using 'free speech' to purposefully offend people

[Kobe]

Do you think it's morally right to purposefully and knowingly offend people?

I'm not asking whether we should limit or restrict this type of speech. I'm just asking whether or not you believe it's a good quality for a human to possess.

(There's going to be a lot of people that want to say "people shouldn't be offended by speech/pictures/drawings". This opinion is beside the point. The fact remains, many people are legitimately offended/hurt by these things.)

[Kelrax]

Free speech isn't the same as consequence-free speech. People can say whatever they want, and you can react however you'd like accordingly.

[Rabblexthree]

People do not know what free speech is. At least not in the US.

I was thinking of that exact comic when I clicked the link for this post.

[Hraklea]

I don't think it is morally right, but I also don't think it should be forbidden. I'm against any sort of censorship, despite how immoral someone's speech might be.

[Deleted]

Uh, sure, it's dickish to hurt anyone purposefully. It has to be stated, however, that someone's "right" to not be offended is infinitely further down the scale than someone's right to say what they please. The free speech is absolutely essential to any even remotely free society, because the damage caused by not being allowed to say what I please is unfathomably bigger than the damage caused by causing someone to be a bit miffed.

Edit: this is obviously in regards to legality. A private company can force their workers to almost anything short of unnecessarily harm their health or some such.

[Adam Jensen]

It is morally wrong to offend people purposely.

But such speech cannot be punished by law. It can however, be punished by society. If I say on Facebook, "all ni**ers suck," well, I deserve to lose friends, to possibly be ignored by employers looking at my page, and other possible consequences. But government itself cannot arrest me or do anything about it.

There is no right to be protected from offense. And I personally think any lawsuit based on "I was offended" should be thrown out of court immediately.

[Adam Jensen]

If you don't like what someone else says, there is no call for censorship. Censor that person on your own, refuse to read or watch his material or whatever it is, but you have no right to take that stuff away, regardless of how "offensive" it is, from other people who might not share opinions.

This is why when people demand books be pulled from libraries I get livid. It's a very simple matter, if you don't like the book, don't fucking read it. Don't take it away from everyone else.

Just because YOU think that Harry Potter promotes Satanism, doesn't give you any rights to remove it.

[Tradewind]

What exactly is "legitimately offended?" Like there's illegitimate offence? Where does the line get drawn, it is a very subjective thing and would easily vary from one person to the next.

Also poorly disguised France shooting thread?

[Revi]

Morally? I don't think it matters, morally.

I think offending people is perfectly fine if it serves a purpose, but doing it only to offend is just being an asshole.
If you're talking about the french cartoons, I do think they serve a purpose and are justified by it.

[Adam Jensen]

What exactly is "legitimately offended?" Like there's illegitimate offence? Where does the line get drawn, it is a very subjective thing and would easily vary from one person to the next.

Also poorly disguised France shooting thread?

Hence why we can't put that line into law. Some people are offended by everything. For example: Tumblr.

[Deleted]

Free speech is about protecting you from the government, not encouraging you to say whatever stupid fucking thing pops into your mind in the most offensive manner possible. Sometimes things need to be said that will offend some, but people should take care to take reasonable steps to be less offensive, rather than lazily releasing verbal diarrhea and then claiming free speech as though it somehow justifies it.

Honestly, I think we should encourage people to not be so goddamn thin-skinned rather than encourage people to not offend. It's absurd how easily people jump to taking offense to any little thing.

It's ridiculous that we have to weigh every word on a golden scale out of fear that someone will explode from anger. You wouldn't in a million years think that someone could be so mad that they would want to kill you for drawing a picture of someone - regardless of how that person was depicted. Yet it happens, and it'd be laughable if it wasn't so sad.

[Tradewind]

Hence why we can't put that line into law. Some people are offended by everything. For example: Tumblr.

Funny enough, I went and looked up "legitimately offended" on google, just to see what others are saying and a vast majority of it was tumblr shit lol.

So that taught me all I needed to know about those types of people.

[Kruncholyo]

Sure there can be 'fighting words' or 'incitement to riot', but Charlie Hebdo's work is neither of those.

[Gandrake]

the way i see it, there really isn't a difference between implying that someone is an asshole and actually calling them an asshole and in that light i think defending it as any more socially acceptable than an open flame is retardation at it's finest, but outside of that is not really an issue for me. to get to the root of a problem, you can't dance around it.

[Aeka]

Do you think it's morally right to purposefully and knowingly offend people?

I'm not asking whether we should limit or restrict this type of speech. I'm just asking whether or not you believe it's a good quality for a human to possess.

(There's going to be a lot of people that want to say "people shouldn't be offended by speech/pictures/drawings". This opinion is beside the point. The fact remains, many people are legitimately offended/hurt by these things.)

Morally right? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Political parties of all sides have said things that offend their opponents.

Do I believe it's a good quality for a human to possess? Yes. It might be hurtful, it might be offensive to people, but it is a necessary part of human nature to have that ability. I'm a firm believer in civility in the use of discourse, but sometimes the establishment needs to be offended...and sometimes the anti-establishment needs to be offended. Consider slavery. The abolitionist movement was offensive to slave owners, of whom hurtful things were said.

Without this character trait, there would never be any change of the status quo. We'd still be living in caves without fire because fire might have offended someone.

[Stormdash]

Freedom of speech necessarily means the right to say obnoxious and offensive things. The discretion of when, if, why, or on what subject to do so is exclusively a moral question for the individual, not a legal question for the state.

[Endus]

Free speech is expected to have consequences.

You're free to say whatever offensive things you want. As long as you accept the fact that everyone else can say "hey, everyone, look at the offensive and stupid things this guy has said, everyone should know what a stupid jerk they are". That if your employer finds your speech to be offensive or not a good representation of their company, they can fire you for having said it, whether you were on the job or not. That people can publish billboards quoting your offensive nonsense, with your name attached to it, so that everyone can see it.

You give up your right for your speech to be private the moment you make it public in any way. The consequences of that public speech are not free speech concerns. If you don't want to face those consequences, then you shouldn't say whatever offensive thing you were going to say.

Your right to free speech in no way abrogates the rights of everyone else to speak freely about you, in response.

[Acidbaron]

Welcome to Europe, we allow it. Deal with it.

[AlereanJr]

People all over the world are criticized and heckled on a daily basis, on national television. It's nothing new, and frankly I'm glad it exists. Why would I want to live in a world that doesn't challenge the people that try to make it a worse place? If this is about the Paris debacle, I have no sympathy for ISIS; take the shit out of them as much as possible please.

[Hraklea]

Sorry for the ignorant question, but... in Brazil, people can sue you for "moral damage" if you offend them. Is there something like that in US and/or Europe?