The Perils of De-Platforming
When Twitter made the decision to de-platform Donald Trump, it was, according to Twitter, to mitigate “the risk of further incitement of violence.” Since then, a wide range of technology companies and platforms have restricted or removed speakers they’ve deemed dangerous. The practice is praised by some, criticized by others - but all agree that the power and responsibility of Big Tech tech has taken us down a slippery slope. Where is the line between private platforms an government responsibly? Who do we want to determine what speech should be deemed as “dangerous” and what are the appropriate remedies for publishing such speech. It may end up being the most important question of our time.
Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.
Amarnath Amarasingam
Queens University
Steven Rosenbaum
NYC Media Lab
Kate Ruane
ACLU
Ben Smith
Semafor
Jillian York
Electronic Frontier Foundation