Judge rules White House pressured social networks to “suppress free speech”
Judge rules White House pressured social networks to “suppress free speech”
Missouri and Louisiana sued Biden over attempts to limit COVID misinformation.
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Worth reading the article to understand that a conservative judge and conservative AGs accused the Biden admin of trying to silence conservatives spreading Covid-19 falsehoods on social platforms and framing it like they weren’t just trying to keep people from drinking bleach. Very misleading headline.
I'm shocked I tell you! Republicans trying to justify lies and misleading propaganda. Just shocked. \s
Yes, but this could easily go the other way. A far right executive could use its power to pressure these companies to remove what it considers misinformation.
This is clearly a violation of the first amendment as misinformation, disinformation and malinformation are by definition protected forms of speech.
I think I agree with the judge here in that the government should not be pressuring social media to censor legally protected speech. It is no matter if that speech is true or untrue, as long as it is protected speech the government should not have the power to censor speech it does not agree with.
One can easily imagine a right wing executive pressuring social media to remove speech it seams false or malevolent. The things the right view as misinformation, malinformation or disinformation would be expansive I am sure, and would no doubt target women's health, trans liberation or any attempt by the working class to organize. The government should not have this power to censor speech that is covered by the first amendment.
False statements of facts are not always protected by the first amendment
Slippery slope is no way to govern.
From my perspective this is not a slippery slope argument as the violation of our rights are already taking place. Combined government and corporate power are already censoring legal speech. It is just more difficult to oppose because I mostly disagree with and find odious the speech that is being censored.
I think that not opposing this government censorship is a mistake and not just because of the principle.
While I do think the principle of freedom of speech, press, assembly etc are important principles, it is also true that censorship will tend to favor the right in their political aims more than it will help the left. The right has corporate and institutional power at their disposal and it is used to defend the status quo. It is the left that needs freedom of speech to disseminate their ideas. The right can simply rely on the existing power structures to maintain their ideological hegemony. It is the left must agitate and convince others that there are better ways of doing things.
False statements of facts are not always protected by the first amendment