Should Facebook and Twitter Censor Themselves? A Debate.
11/16/18 • 86 min
Should social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube only remove users who make true threats or incite violence? Or do they have an ethical obligation to hold their users to a higher standard?
That was the topic of a recent public debate hosted by Reason—a West Coast version of the popular New York City-based debate series, The Soho Forum—pitting Thaddeus Russell, author of A Renegade History of the United States and host of the Unregistered podcast, against Ken White, an attorney at Brown, White & Osborn, author at the legal blog Popehat, and co-host of the podcast All the President's Lawyers.
Russell argued that corporations that accept tax breaks and public subsidies should be more accountable to the public. White held that social media sites deserve the same set of speech rights and limitations as ordinary citizens.
Both speakers agreed with the broader libertarian point that private websites have the legal right to do what they want. The debate hinged on a broader point: What should the culture of free speech, free expression, and ownership look like on our social media platforms?
It was an Oxford-style debate, in which the audience votes on the resolution before and after the event, and the side that picks up the most votes wins. White won the debate by picking up 20 percent of the votes.
The debate was held on November 1, 2018, at Reason's Los Angeles studio.
Edited by Ian Keyser. Recording by Meredith Bragg, Paul Detrick, and Zach Weissmueller.
'Machinery' by Kai Engel is licenced under CC BY-NC 4.0
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Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes.
The post Should Facebook and Twitter Censor Themselves? A Debate. appeared first on Reason.com.
Should social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube only remove users who make true threats or incite violence? Or do they have an ethical obligation to hold their users to a higher standard?
That was the topic of a recent public debate hosted by Reason—a West Coast version of the popular New York City-based debate series, The Soho Forum—pitting Thaddeus Russell, author of A Renegade History of the United States and host of the Unregistered podcast, against Ken White, an attorney at Brown, White & Osborn, author at the legal blog Popehat, and co-host of the podcast All the President's Lawyers.
Russell argued that corporations that accept tax breaks and public subsidies should be more accountable to the public. White held that social media sites deserve the same set of speech rights and limitations as ordinary citizens.
Both speakers agreed with the broader libertarian point that private websites have the legal right to do what they want. The debate hinged on a broader point: What should the culture of free speech, free expression, and ownership look like on our social media platforms?
It was an Oxford-style debate, in which the audience votes on the resolution before and after the event, and the side that picks up the most votes wins. White won the debate by picking up 20 percent of the votes.
The debate was held on November 1, 2018, at Reason's Los Angeles studio.
Edited by Ian Keyser. Recording by Meredith Bragg, Paul Detrick, and Zach Weissmueller.
'Machinery' by Kai Engel is licenced under CC BY-NC 4.0
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes.
The post Should Facebook and Twitter Censor Themselves? A Debate. appeared first on Reason.com.
Previous Episode
Socialism vs. Capitalism: Jacobin's Bhaskar Sunkara and Economist Gene Epstein Debate
Is socialism more effective than capitalism in bringing freedom to the masses?
That was the resolution at a recent public debated hosted by the Soho Forum on October 15, 2018. It featured Bhaskar Sunkara, the founding editor and publisher of Jacobin magazine, and Gene Epstein, the Soho Forum's director and former economics and books editor of Barron's. Naomi Brockwell moderated.
It was an Oxford-style debate in which the audience votes on the resolution at the beginning and end of the event, and the side that gains the most ground is victorious. Epstein, arguing the negative, prevailed by convincing about 11 percent of audience members to change their minds.
Sunkara is also the author of the forthcoming The Socialist Manifesto: The Case for Radical Politics in an Era of Extreme Inequality, which will be published by Basic Books in 2019.
Comedian Dave Smith, host of the podcast Part of the Problem, opened the program.
The Soho Forum, which is partnered with the Reason Foundation, is a monthly debate series at the SubCulture Theater in Manhattan's East Village. At the next debate, which will be held on November 14, 2018, Columbia professor John McWhorter will debate NYU's Nikhil Pal Singh on whether "the message of anti-racism has become as harmful a force in American life as racism itself." Buy tickets here.
Music: "January" by Kai Engle is licensed under a CC-BY creative commons license.
All Soho Forums are turned into Reason videos and podcasts. Go here for a full archive.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes.
The post Socialism vs. Capitalism: <em>Jacobin's</em> Bhaskar Sunkara and Economist Gene Epstein Debate appeared first on Reason.com.
Next Episode
Has Anti-Racism Become as Harmful as Racism? John McWhorter vs. Nikhil Singh
Has the message of anti-racism become as harmful a force in American life as racism itself?
That was the resolution at a public debate hosted by the Soho Forum on November 14, 2018. It featured John McWhorter, associate professor of English at Columbia University, and Nikhil Singh, professor of social and cultural analysis and history at New York University. Soho Forum Director Gene Epstein moderated.
It was an Oxford-style debate in which the audience votes on the resolution at the beginning and end of the event, and the side that gains the most ground is victorious. In a close finish, Singh, arguing the negative, prevailed by convincing nearly 13 percent of audience members to come over to his side.
Singh is the author of Race and America's Long War (University of California Press, 2017), and Black Is a Country: Race and the Unfinished Struggle for Democracy (Harvard University Press, 2004).
McWhorter, who is a regular columnist for Time and CNN, is the author most recently of Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths About America's Lingua Franca (2017)
Comedian Dave Smith, host of the podcast Part of the Problem, opened the program.
The Soho Forum, which is partnered with the Reason Foundation, is a monthly debate series at the SubCulture Theater in Manhattan's East Village. On Monday, December 3, economists Kenneth Rogoff and Lawrence H. White will debate whether governments should phase out cash. Get your tickets here.
Edited by Todd Krainin.
Music: "Voyeur," by Jingle Punks.
Photo Credit: Brett Raney.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes.
The post Has Anti-Racism Become as Harmful as Racism? John McWhorter vs. Nikhil Singh appeared first on Reason.com.
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