Inaction is a Form of Action

Cory Doctorow, in Inaction is a Form of Action:

“It’s tempting to simply laugh off these ‘free market’ fetishists as they get their comeuppance when Alex Jones and the Daily Stormer get kicked off the internet, but that is to miss the wider point: we are now in a speech environment where power is so concentrated that the whims of a half-dozen tech execs determine — for all intents and purposes — who may speak and what they may say. If you think that power will only be wielded against Alex Jones, there’s a bunch of trans activists, indigenous activists, anti-pipeline activists, #BlackLivesMatter activists, and others who’d like to have a word with you.”

Back in December, I applauded Mark Zuckerberg for continuing to push back on demands that Facebook clamp down on its users’ speech. As I said there, “The idea that [Facebook] should also [, in addition to commanding an unprecedented amount of the world’s time and attention, ] become the arbiter of truth boggles my mind.” Cory Doctrow, in Inaction is a Form of Action, does a great job explaining why this disturbing trend ought to concern you.