If you had end all be all say, what limits (if any) would you put on speech (public or private). (lemmy.world)

submitted 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) by Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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Let's say you're a "benevolent dictator" with complete power over legislative and judicial processes. What laws would exist involving speech(public square and private)? What would punishments look like (if any)?

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[-] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 7 points 12 hours ago

Calling for another person to be killed or harmed. Either directly or by supporting ideologies that require it. Example:

OK - Being gay is bad, my holy book says so. Everyone should stop being gay please
BAD - We need to remove the gays from our population one way or another, or God will punish us

Spreading false information with the intention of causing harm. Aka "shouting fire in a crowded theatre".

Harassment. In the sense of saying things to a person with the specific goal of making them uncomfortable, or impacting their mental health, regardless of the truthfulness of those statements. Depends a lot on the context so the line is not very clear here.

[-] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago

That all sounds pretty reasonable, although, the last part could be hard to lay out. Would you engage with any type of punishment?

[-] flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz 2 points 11 hours ago

Punishment is always a hard thing to decide, with any types of laws. It should deter others from doing it, if possible convince the offender not to repeat it, but also not be too severe as not to reinforce the problematic idea or create a martyr.

Some kind of community service is appropriate I think. Unless they try to actively organize an action to murder, then it should be prison.

[-] Return_of_Chippy@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago

That all makes sense

this post was submitted on 21 May 2026

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