The free speech debate gets a refresher

Future. Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase sent shockwaves through tech, but it’s also digging up age-old arguments around free speech. With the web3 revolution around the corner, many are starting to revisit the debate and what it might look like with a decentralized tilt. The next few years (or even months… at the rate things move in the crypto world) may be a crucial time in shaping what the future of free speech might look like.

The Next Frontier

Give me liberty (of speech) or give me death. Should the government and social media interfere with what people can read or hear online? 

• Elon Musk doesn’t think so. After buying a $3 billion stake in Twitter, Musk—a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist”—has signaled that he will push the platform to champion free speech. 
• On the other hand, Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and former CEO, also supports freedom of expression, though he describes his position as optimizing for freedom of expression versus being an “absolute absolutist.” 

The Wild Wild West

In a decentralized web, social media platforms like Twitter presumably wouldn’t wield power to delete posts, ban users, or engage in censorship. Many absolutists celebrate this as true speech freedom — allowing users themselves to decide what they want to see and not see online.

The issue with that? Well, this debate would be remiss without including a nod at the whole Donald Trump-Twitter banning situation. Without overarching platforms acting as fact-checkers or shutting down misinformation campaigns, we’d truly be in the Wild Wild West. 

But, as others point out, platforms themselves can be biased and spread misinformation … complicating matters. There’s only one thing for certain here: there’s no easy answer.