Hey, Libertarians: Of Course You Should “Censor” Comments

Plenty of libertarians get this wrong.

They think it’s “censorship” when, for example, a website owner deletes someone’s comments.

Of course it isn’t. You don’t have “freedom of speech” on someone else’s property. Unless you think I have the right to harangue you as you eat dinner in your own home.

Whoever owns the property sets the rules.

That’s why the old chestnut about shouting “fire” in a crowded theater is so ridiculous. “See,” the know-it-all says, “everyone has to admit that for public safety there are cases where we have to restrict free speech!”

Wrong!

It’s again a question of property rights. Whose theater is it? No theater owner is going to want people crushed in a mad rush to the exits. So the property owner will set rules pertaining to disruptions of his productions, and that will include prohibitions on shouting “fire.”

So again, it’s property that resolves these questions.

Why do I bring this up?

Suppose you boost one of your posts on Facebook, and you’re hoping to sell some product. Suppose further that someone in the comment section makes fun of your product, or calls the offer a scam, or whatever.

You should instantly delete those comments and ban the person writing them. No question about it. It’s your page, and you set the rules. Idiotic and hostile comments will harm your sales.

I see this all the time, though: horrible comments on sponsored posts, and the post creator doesn’t bother to keep an eye on them. You should.

For that matter, you should respond to all comments. The more activity there is in the comments section, the more organic views your content will get.

There’s lots more great advice where this came from inside Steve Clayton’s PDF summary of all the best practices and recommendations of his top eCommerce students – people whose online stores bring in at least $30K in monthly revenue.

Gee, think that’s the kind of thing it would be useful to read?

And Steve’s giving away $5000 to a lucky downloader of this PDF.

Here’s your easiest decision of the day:

https://www.happyearner.com/transcript

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