image © Dario Castillejos
From Daryl Cagle:
I run a newspaper syndicate for editorial cartoons and columns. Half of America’s daily, paid-circulation newspapers subscribe to my service, which features about 75 political cartoonists and ten columnists. Sometimes I choose to “kill” a cartoon or column that I think is inappropriate, which often leads to an angry response from the creator about censorship and First Amendment rights. I always remind them that I have First Amendment rights too, and I can choose to syndicate whatever I want.
I also hear from cartoonists whom I don’t syndicate, demanding to be on my Web site as some kind of entitlement, claiming that I’m violating their rights by refusing to allow their voice to be heard. I also hear from cartoonists in nations with no press freedom about how their government censors their cartoons; they claim this is “just the same as in America” because there are editors here who kill cartoons, too.
Daryl Cagle’s column on what is and is not censorship … and the internet.
XKCD put it best: https://xkcd.com/1357/
Some of these guys graduated from the best law schools in the country, and they don’t understand that the first amendment only prohibits government censorship.
My presumption is that *they* understand, but they hope the hordes they are trying to rally do *not* understand. And of course they are probably right.
Agreed.