In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer sits down with Steve Simpson, senior attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, to discuss whether “deplatforming” by tech companies constitutes censorship.
Topics covered include:
What free speech is, and what constitutes a violation of this right, especially in the context of social media;
Why the solution to “censorship by proxy” is not more government pressure on private companies;
Whether companies today are making decisions in reaction to government pressure;
Why private companies’ right to free speech includes the right to make irrational decisions about what content to sponsor or remove;
Why social media companies cannot and should not be content neutral;
Why Section 230’s distinction between publisher and platform liability is valid and useful;
The real motive behind the pushes to repeal Section 230;
The legal basis for the “deplatforming” of social media companies by vendor IT companies;
What to make of the fact that tech companies have been subsidized by the government;
Why the right to free speech fundamentally protects the creation of rational values, which the social media companies have done.
Mentioned in the discussion were the Wall Street Journal’s article “Save the Constitution From Big Tech,” ([ Ссылка ]) the Ayn Rand Lexicon entry on censorship ([ Ссылка ]), Ayn Rand’s article “Have Gun, Will Nudge,” ([ Ссылка ]) Steve Simpson’s book Defending Free Speech ([ Ссылка ]) and his article “Unjust Attacks on Facebook,” ([ Ссылка ]) as well as Ben Bayer’s “Ominous Threats to the Marketplace of Ideas” ([ Ссылка ]) and “Facebook: Censor or Victim?” ([ Ссылка ])
0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:38 What free speech is and what violates it
0:04:39 "Censorship by proxy"
0:16:32 Reacting to government pressure
0:21:50 The right to make irrational decisions
0:24:50 Is content neutrality an ideal?
0:28:46 Section 230 is valid and useful
0:47:48 Motives behind repealing Section 230
0:49:40 Legal basis for "deplatforming"
0:54:15 Government subsidies for tech companies
0:57:45 Social media firms create rational values
