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[–] ChosenUndead 3 points -3 points (+0|-3) ago 

Fuck this guy.

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[–] Shibe 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

The relevant part for the lazy/those uninterested in Neil Gaiman's work and wider thoughts on book censorship:

Do you think censorship is decreasing, or can you see new threats to freedom of speech on the horizon? If the latter, where are these threats coming from and how serious are they?

I think there are lots of threats to freedom of speech and I think that the strange cesspit that parts of the internet, can turn into is definitely something that never occurred to any of us before. The fact that upset people can go and shout and the shoutiness and that other people can see… you get some people interpreting freedom of speech as being freedom to harass, freedom to pile on and scream. And I guess it is, but I can absolutely see it being a threat. You know, it takes one angry person pointing people at one thing that upsets them and suddenly the internet is a hornet’s nest and I don’t think that’s good. Mostly I don’t think it’s good because it means people are having to not say what they think and the point of freedom of speech is that you should be able to say what you think, defend what you think, argue with people, disagree with people. All of that stuff is hugely important.

If you don’t like my work, that’s great and I think you should absolutely write a book saying why you don’t like my work - or write blog articles or write newspaper articles. Freedom of speech is a hugely important thing. And so is the freedom not to be a dick and the freedom not to make an idiot of yourself and the freedom not to be as unpleasant as you possibly can be. And these are all important.

In my opinion, he's not only frustrated at the "cesspit" parts of the internet filled with hate and harassment, but also those who are easily offended and "the fact that upset people can go and shout" is what's causing more censorship. People who don't like others disagreeing with them would rather silence the opposition than discuss the point. The problem is that we can't simply get rid of those who are hateful or who harass (and censoring them defeats the purpose of free speech) and so the better solution is to convince the easily offended that not only is free speech important, but that they should stand their ground and defend their position rather than childishly crying offensive and demanding the offenders be silenced.

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[–] jackieclay 0 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago 

It's almost as if a writer might be well-read and well-spoken, and that his words deserve proper context or something

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[–] 123_456 1 point 3 points (+4|-1) ago 

Shut the fuck up, Neil. That's what freedom of speech is, unfortunately. You take the good with the bad. You don't become the arbiter of what's right or wrong.