Ep. 215: ‘Private Censorship’ with J.P. Messina
from So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast
by FIRE
Published: Tue May 21 2024
Show Notes
The First Amendment forbids government censorship. Private institutions, on the other hand, are generally free to restrict speech.
How should we think about private censorship and its role within a liberal society?
On today’s episode, we’re joined by J.P. Messina, an assistant professor in the philosophy department at Purdue University and the author of the new book, “PrivateCensorship.”
Also on the show is Aaron Terr, FIRE’s director of public advocacy.
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction
3:10 The origin story of “Private Censorship”
8:29 How does FIRE figure out what to weigh in on?
Examples of private censorship
Regulating speech at work
Regulating speech on social media platforms
Is social media essentially a public utility?
Are internet service providers essentially public utilities?
Social media vs. ISPs
Censorship on search engines
Defining illiberalism outside of government censorship
Outro
Show Notes
Packinghamv. North Carolina (2017)
Cloudflare’s announcement regarding the Daily Stormer