Free Speech, Casualty of the Left-Right War

It is well known that it is the right that has used the Internet to its advantage, leaving the left not only far behind but also very embittered. The clamour has been growing for some time that Internet sites in general and Facebook in particular have enabled the rise of the right by providing the platform to circulate such views, including, of course, fake news.

Recent bans by some sites in the West seem to be targeting the views of the extreme right (white supremacists and neo-Nazis). But, surely, you say that getting banned from one site will move those folks to other sites. And new sites and apps will spring up to offer new forums for those people, right? Not really. In fact, one such alternative to Twitter called Gab came up and next thing you know, both Apple and Google banned it from their app stores.

Many find this trend troubling, especially Americans who worship freedom of speech above almost everything else. While many of them find the extreme right worrying, they are not sure if the growing trend of censoring and banning parts of the Internet is going too far. It gets even more worrisome when a company that hosts websites decides to ban certain groups. If such a host is large enough, then that company has the power to lock people out of large parts of the Net by blocking them from all sites hosted by the company, which could well be a big chunk of the Net.

Remember Martin Niemöller’s famous poem about how the (original) Nazis picked off on groups they hated? It goes like this:

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Jillian York worries whether the current Internet trend of banning the extreme right is the same thing, except “in reverse”, i.e., it is starting with the neo-Nazis this time around!

Historically, the left has supported free speech. But in today’s topsy-turvy environment, many in the left support the eviction of the extreme right from the Net. York worries that the left is not asking the next question: Who decides who stays and who is evicted? Should the decision be made by governments or “unelected white Silicon Valley dudes”?

All this just goes to show how very hard it is to follow this line by Voltaire:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”