When Should You Block Someone?

Wrestling with free speech and personal boundaries

Image generated by the Author via Ideogram

Anyone who follows my writing knows I’m a big believer in free speech. I support people’s right to believe what they believe and to express those beliefs freely.

I believe that such expression should, in most cases, come without legal consequences.

I also believe free speech should usually come without financial or social consequences, so long as a person’s speech doesn’t cross the line into libel, harassment, or abuse.

However…

The online world is populated with trolls who are full of hate, vitriol, and bad faith.

Now, let’s be clear, not everyone who disagrees with you is a troll. Healthy disagreement can sharpen thought, inspire clarity, and build bridges. Even angry or emotionally charged disagreement can be worthwhile at times.

And I don’t believe you should block someone simply because they attack something you’ve written. You can see all kinds of attacks on my articles here on Medium. Tons.

But disagreement should be honest. And it should never cross the line into obsession, cruelty, or dehumanization.

We should all strive to make the internet a better place. Indeed, Medium should be a better place.