Too often, when the debate around censoring harassment and bigotry on social media comes up, one argument is consistently heard by the anti-censorship side. “Free speech!”, they cry. “Our nation was founded on free speech.” And they’re right. This government has no right to shut down your opinions if they aren’t actively hurting people. But last time I checked, the U.S. government didn’t own Twitter.
The constitution states that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;” If Congress isn’t the one stopping you from saying it, then it’s not unconstitutional.
When people try to use freedom of speech to make a point about private censorship, they demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding about what freedom of speech is.
Nobody is suggesting laws against ever expressing a belief that people don’t consider progressive. We’re asking Twitter, a privately owned corporation, not to allow Nazi ideology to run rampant on its site. We’re asking Facebook, another privately owned corporation, to do something about the fake news being shared all over its site. We’re asking YouTube, yet another one of those private corporations, to restrict videos with hate language.
Here’s the thing: people who use social media are those company’s products. They need us to be happy and to use their platform. We need to make our voices heard. Make it clear that you are not happy that these companies are letting this rhetoric spread. If they don’t respond to us, use Ad Blockers, and let them know why you are. Cut off their revenue.
There is nothing illegal about not letting hate speech reach young, impressionable people. Social media companies must cut this off at the source, by banning people pushing ideas packed with hatred and making sure that they are transparent about how they are doing this. They have the right to do this, and they must, to ensure hate speech does not spread.
