Good morning.
There have always been consequences in media for getting things wrong, from lawsuits and reputational damage to jail time and fines that can gut a business. You can be right and still get targeted. Just ask the Committee to Protect Journalists. Now, social media platforms are dealing with those issues. What’s different and disturbing is how many governments are aiming to essentially shut them down.
As Elon Musk justifiably rages against (but complies with) Brazil’s decision to block X, he’s also taking a watchdog group to trial for defamation in the U.S. over a report it issued that claimed X showed brand ads next to anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi content. He sues and is sued. Over in France, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is facing criminal charges that allege he was complicit in illegal behavior that took place on his platform. (Telegram claims it follows EU laws.) Meanwhile, the U.S. is pushing to ban TikTok and Roblox is now banned in Turkey for “causing abuse of children.”
While there are legitimate issues with how these platforms operate, use data, and deal with abusive activity by users, the remedy can look quite harsh. Let’s unpack the Brazil case, which comes down to Musk’s refusal to name local representatives who could be contacted to take action, like suspending certain accounts. (Musk had earlier refused to remove accounts reportedly linked to far-right people and groups.) Musk responded with a campaign about free speech that paints the judge in question as intent on censoring political speech. Musk has since said that Starlink, his satellite-based internet service provider that serves remote parts of Brazil like the Amazon, would block X to comply with the court ruling. That came after the judge froze Starlink’s assets in Brazil, arguing that it was part of the same “economic unit” as X.
Banning an entire platform is bad for democracy, so is letting that platform become a magnet for toxic content. But the answer to abuses of free speech can’t be to allow governments to essentially shut a platform down. That would create a precedent we’ll all regret.
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Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
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