By the arguments you've applied to wiretapping, we don't need oversight into freedom of speech abuses.
That's correct: it's the same as with oversight. There is no need to monitor government about freedom of speech abuses, because such abuses are obvious. If some government agency limits my freedom of speech - I complain and then it's time to act. There is not much to do before anyone complains.
A 1% false positive is not an acceptable rate for wiretap-driven arrests
That's why surveillance might be helpful - it helps to lower ratio of false positive accusations.
But it is already protected well enough and not a major concern at this moment.
I agree that freedom of speech in the US protected well enough to prevent the US from turning into totalitarian state.
So there is no major problem here.
Still the speech is somewhat limited and such restrictions needlessly decrease the efficiency of our society. Couple of examples:
- "Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment" court rulings. That limits availability of quality publications on the topic.
- Persecution of Wikileaks. That keeps government opaque and hides terrible inefficiencies (such as waste of lives and resources in Iraq and Afghanistan).
That's correct: it's the same as with oversight. There is no need to monitor government about freedom of speech abuses, because such abuses are obvious. If some government agency limits my freedom of speech - I complain and then it's time to act. There is not much to do before anyone complains.
A 1% false positive is not an acceptable rate for wiretap-driven arrests
That's why surveillance might be helpful - it helps to lower ratio of false positive accusations.
But it is already protected well enough and not a major concern at this moment.
I agree that freedom of speech in the US protected well enough to prevent the US from turning into totalitarian state.
So there is no major problem here.
Still the speech is somewhat limited and such restrictions needlessly decrease the efficiency of our society. Couple of examples:
- "Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment" court rulings. That limits availability of quality publications on the topic.
- Persecution of Wikileaks. That keeps government opaque and hides terrible inefficiencies (such as waste of lives and resources in Iraq and Afghanistan).