FIRE is excited to announce a partnership with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University to host a “Forum on Free Speech and Content Moderation” from April 13–15, 2023, in Alexandria, Virginia.
FIRE is disturbed by increased calls to use coercive state power to force or pressure private social media companies to censor. Bad laws are already on the books.
The Digital Services Act will essentially oblige Big Tech to act as a privatized censor on behalf of governments — censors who will enjoy wide discretion under vague and subjective standards.
We genuinely hoped Musk would succeed in promoting a culture of free expression. But we have to call it like we see it. And what we saw last week did not look like the actions of a self-described “free speech absolutist.”
Twitter suspended the accounts of numerous journalists who Twitter owner Elon Musk accused of doxing him and his family. So far, though, there seems to be no evidence the journalists did anything more than report on Twitter’s suspension of the account @ElonJet, which used public flight data to share the location of the mogul’s private plane.
