Censorship by mob rule

[Angakuk]

I've been thinking about this issue, one that has been raised repeatedly by The Jesus Lawyer, Sweetie and Fencesitter.

As I understand it the argument goes something like this. When a poster posts an unpopular opinion and a lot of other posters dogpile on him/her with critical comments the volume of noise generated by those posters drowns out the original poster's voice, effectively censoring his/her opinion. This, it is asserted, constitutes a suppression of free speech.

My basic objection to this argument is that it is based on a poor analogy. Actual speech (as in a public oration) can certainly be drowned out by the protests of the mob. If the speaker can't be heard, then his/her voice has been effectively silenced. In an online discussion this is not possible. Anyone interested in the minority opinion can simply ignore the noise and focus on the expressions of that opinion. For the moment though let me disregard that objection and treat the issue as if it were a real problem.

What solutions are on offer? As near as I can tell the solution most frequently offered, by those who see this as a problem, is that the mob should restrain itself and let the poster have his/her say. Providing, in a sense, a zone of respectful silence. It seems to me that this is just replacing one kind of censorship with another. In this case it is a form of self-censorship. My grandmother would have approved. One of her favorite sayings was "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all". Not saying anything at all sounds like a great recipe for killing a discussion board. I simply don't see the logic of replacing censorship by the mob with censorship of the mob, even if it is self-censorship. The only viable solution to the problem of censorship by mob rule on the internet is to reject the assertion that it is a problem. The beauty of an unmoderated free speech forum is that everyone gets to have their say, and they get to have it just as often as they like.

Am I missing something here? If so, what is it that I am missing?

Angakuk