Firm call on all religions to reject violence as a response to perceived or actual affronts against their beliefs. Speaking after the attacks on U.S. embassy in Libya, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “When Christians are subject to insults to their faith, and that certainly happens, we expect them not to resort to violence. When Hindus or Buddhists are subjected to insults to their faiths, and that also certainly happens, we expect them not to resort to violence. The same goes for all faiths, including Islam.” Secretary Clinton Delivers Powerful Religion Speech After Middle East Embassy Attacks
Wikipedia embraces dispute resolution. The new WikiProject Dispute Resolution‘s goal is to “grow the ranks of editors who are active in dispute resolution, to increase the amount of disputes that get handled properly and resolved, as opposed to getting mismanaged or ignored, resulting in escalation.”
This belongs in the “Even Lawyers Need Social Media Training” category. A Miami-Dade, Florida public defender’s client receives a mistrial after the attorney posted a picture of her client’s leopard-print underwear on her personal Facebook page. Tamara Rice Lave, a University of Miami law professor who specializes in criminal procedure, said the attorney, who was subsequently fired, showed “shockingly poor judgment.” Lawyer’s Facebook photo causes mistrial in Miami-Dade murder case
Example of successful civil dialogue between people with opposing views. In a guest post on Public Conversations Project’s blog, writer John Backman describes the experience he had on his Facebook page after posing a series of pro and con questions about gun ownership shortly after the Aurora, Colorado shootings. He noted that “Opening the door to authentic dialogue happens a few millimeters at a time. Initially, the tone and framing of the questions nudged us into restatement of positions. Then, the civility and depth of those restatements allowed others to ask more questions and probe gently. Had the conversation continued, I suspect that probing would have nudged the door open a bit more.” One List of Questions, Three Conversations—All About Guns
Kudos to Wikipedia because they are role models in the movement to establish an internet that imparts information yet simultaneously protects freedom of speech and the rights of individuals. JS Mill, considered to be one of the most influential contributors to social and political theory, supported freedom of speech.
Mill argued that discourse is a necessary condition for intellectual and social progress. However, according to his harm principle, the actions of individuals should only be limited to prevent harm to other individuals: “The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others”.
Freedom of speech is a basic right but it should not impinge of the rights of individuals such as the right to a reputation and to work.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harm_principle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill#Views_on_freedom_of_speech