| This is an extraordinary step for YouTube to take. But we live in extraordinary times; or a least, this is an extraordinary circumstance. The president is unwilling to concede his loss. He baselessly claims the election was stolen, alleging massive fraud with no supporting evidence. This claim of a stolen election is a form of government propaganda. It's a lie issued by government officials: the president, his administration, and his allies in federal and state offices. This propaganda is designed as cover for a naked power grab. Either to keep the president in office; or to radicalize his base to support further restrictions on the franchise, which aids minority Republican power. Censoring government propaganda is the right thing to do. Especially this most noxious type that is designed to attack and destroy democracy. The failure of the president and his allies to respect democracy means this responsibility must fall on other actors, such as YouTube. Or at the very least these actors should refrain from promulgating the government's destructive propaganda. Taibbi's concern that this will lead to more radicalization is exactly that: a worry and a concern. Yet the uncritical spreading of these government lies is causing damage here and now, in real time. It's bizarre that Taibbi is so focused on theoretical downsides, yet seems to discount the damage that has been done and will multiply should the lie fester. What about free speech? First; Free speech does not exist for itself. The purpose of free speech is truth. Free speech is a guarantor of discourse, of our ability to have free and open conversations that reveal some truth about our universe or about ourselves. And the ability for us to agree or disagree about what the truth is, what is right and what is wrong, and what is true and what is false. Propaganda and bald-faced lies are anathema to free speech. Trump's claims are baseless self-serving lies. They shed no light, they are designed to mislead, and they hide the truth. The national discourse now centers on this big lie. In this context lies are bad not just because they are lies, but because they narrow and constrain the discourse. I'm not talking about lies that come from misinformation or misunderstanding or mistake - the goal of free discourse is to correct these kind of lies. Instead I'm speaking of the deliberate lie designed to achieve some goal, the knowing lie. If the goal of discourse is to uncover truth, the goal of the knowing lie is to preempt discourse, and by extension the truth itself. Second; Free speech has always been bridled. Consider holocaust denial and the flat earth hypothesis. Both have approximately the same amount of supporting evidence (none or close to zero). But only holocaust denial is banned from YouTube. Why? Because there is a nexus of holocaust denial, anti-semitic violence, white supremacist groups, and racism. Flat earthers are benign by comparison (unless they start blowing up NASA buildings). Holocaust denial is dangerous because it's part of larger violent white nationalist movement. Trump's lies about the election are of this latter type; not that they are white nationalist; but that they are part of a larger effort to subvert democracy. And have already stoke death threats an calls to violence. Individuals and corporations (like YouTube) should actively rebut and censor these lies. |