Disliking data centers, illegal immigration, or taxes is not a crime in the United States, nor is posting inconvenient messages about politicians, nor is getting a little too rowdy in a group chat. And none of these things are likely to be made illegal any time soon.

I always find this form of argument in favor of privacy (which is valuable in its own right to be clear) so roundabout. If you’re concerned about the government impinging on your freedom of speech, then why not write an essay arguing for expansive freedom of speech protections? That seems like a much more direct solution to the problem presented in this essay.

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arkhiver 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

farmer arrested over datacenter debate: https://www.gadgetreview.com/arrest-him-the-moment-police-ha...

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derektank 7 hours ago | parent [-]

I’m not exactly sure how an abuse of power occurring at a public event relates to the question of privacy or freedom of speech. The law did not allow the officer to arrest the man for the content of his speech so he retaliated by enforcing a different law unjustly. This kind of selective enforcement of the law can be a violation of federal law and the man likely has standing to sue.

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derektank 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

For reference, a similar case of selective enforcement against an outspoken critic of the local government in Texas resulted in the critic receiving a settlement of $500k following an unjust arrest

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/10/15/i-feel-like-i-can...

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microgpt 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

it's an example of the government silencing people for speech

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charcircuit 5 hours ago | parent [-]

No, it's an example of someone being told to leave, not doing so, and then being arrested for trespassing.

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microgpt 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

For speech. By the government.

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nephihaha 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

For being five seconds over? Not even minutes.

	▲	charcircuit 13 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		He was asked due to his actions he took after he was told to stop. If he had just stopped talking after being told his time was up he would not have been asked to leave.

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6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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