Polite society is another way of describing the sections of society that everyone aspires to be a part of.
Twitter is a private company and has no obligation to provide a space for free speech to anyone. They're free to make political decisions that suit them whenever they choose.
I do, however have an issue with the hypocrisy of both Twitter and Facebook not wanting to be responsible for the content people post on there, whilst simultaneously wanting to censor the views of some of those people. It's one or the other.
Got me here?
I just remember the marvellous Peter Sellers riding the nuke at the end.
When they make factual statements about their experiences, yes.
When they guess as to the reasoning behind those experiences, no.
So "I went for an interview and didn't get the job" counts. "I didn't get the job because of my skin colour" doesn't (unless, of course, they were told that).
You've been in the US too long Steff - come back over here and get some good old class ambition back in you!Taking this statement in isolation, I could not disagree more. A "polite society" is possible whether you have pennies or millions. The "polite society" You talk of contains some very nasty and prejudicial hypocrites.
Those aren't the rules applied to publishers though.They're always monitoring the content on their sites, issuing temporary bans and what-not, so your point holds no real merit. Like any great giant capitalist empire, they're allowed to be hypocritical. Sorry. Those are the "rules" of a "free" society.
Another thing. It wasn't a political decision, it was a (far, far too late IMO) ethical one based on not being the vehicle through which outright, multiply-proven lies are disseminated repeatedly to the population.
You've been in the US too long Steff - come back over here and get some good old class ambition back in you!
You're right, my statement was merely an example.Incredible.
A statement so lacking in context it is dangerous.
Your assumption is dangerous.
Your (hopeful) inability to clearly articulate what you're trying to say is dangerous.
These are times where clarity of language is vital, and often requires careful attention to context.
I think it's an outrageous statement, given the nature of its implied assumption, which is clearly that unless someone says loudly, "You did not get the job because you're black" then racism cannot be considered a reason.
Before he died, my father was the victim of quiet, persistent racism. He was singled out and quietly ridiculed, mocked and mentally abused by several people; it completed the break in his mental health. He was forced into early retirement, got a "settlement" to avoid the court case because he did not want to go through it (again, his mental health was broken by this) and in the end those issues contributed to his life quality demise. I know these literal examples bother you because they contain things such as "context" and "emotion" but they also contain facts. Don't ever, ever think racism requires a clear statement; inference, whether singular or repeated, can be as powerful as drip torture if you're the victim, and denying it is a dark form of gaslighting.
Those aren't the rules applied to publishers though.
By controlling what is posted then they have shown editorial control. That means they can't claim the content on their site is not of their making.
You're right, my statement was merely an example.
But there has to be far more than > didn't get the job > must have been my skin colour
A desire for one's descendants to start further up the class ladder than oneself.Your definition of class and mine are miles apart. I would be genuinely interested for you to define the term from your perspective; what, to you, is "class ambition?" Again, genuine question.
Something other than the opinion of the person who didn't get the job.Go on then, what?
That was the law until about 15 years ago.I am not a lawyer and do not have the legal wordage to either confirm or deny legally what you've said.
However, they are conduits for the content of others and are not an editorial content creator.
They give the platform for YOU to create the content.
Thus when the owners feel they no longer want to be a conduit for someone's contributions/flimflam, they can absolutely boot them off.
Until FB, twitter, instagram, etc, directly enter one of my contributions and alter it (whether editorially or image-wise) they are not "creating content" and it is absolutely NOT of their making/creation.
Controlling what they host is simply that. Nothing else.
Something other than the opinion of the person who didn't get the job.
Something unbiased and objective