Freedom of Speech: Terms and Conditions

by James Nagle

We've all seen it.

Fact checks, disclaimers, and the worst of all, "misinformation."

But who is checking facts, writing disclaimers, or judging information as incorrect?

We live in a society that is arguably more divided than at any time in American history, and the attack on civil liberties is well underway.  Partisan politics would like to continue to pit one side against the other but the truth is our rights and liberties as citizens have always been under attack from both sides.  Both sides want you to believe that the cause is just while the truth is as far removed as can be.  The old adage is true: "There's three sides to every story - yours, mine, and the truth."

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is tricky.

Fundamentally, it protects the right of American citizens to exercise freedom of speech, religion, and the press.  However, the problem with this right is that over time, legal challenges have whittled away the intended broad sweeping protections afforded to citizens.  Restrictions have been placed on free speech and this whittling away of our rights continues to erode the value of being an American citizen.  Add in the continually churned sieve of politics intended to further divide the populace and you end up with a scary situation which fundamentally threatens liberty as a whole.

Any time a majority of a population has been swayed by fear or coercion to take a firm stance on a topic or subject, all rational thought goes out the window.  Given the information age we live in now, evidence to support one's own biases is easily found from a plethora of - sometimes even credible - sources.  This leads to the possibility of a majority believing a particular topic which becomes a super-majority very quickly and ultimately ends up with reason becoming less and less valuable.

Given the information age in which we live today, it is ever important for those in real power to understand the big picture.  And by referencing those in power, I mean those in real power, not the political puppeteers of our government.

In the information age, those who control the information also control the narrative.  Social media platforms have replaced more traditional sources of information where it counts and the fragmentation of thoughts and ideas has become prevalent.  Echo chambers and silos rule the day and nobody is listening to one another anymore.

The result is, in my opinion, one of the most dangerous times of our modern existence.  I'm talking about real world danger here, not just the danger of losing one's voice.  The moment we end up in an artificial super-majority fueled by fear, ignorance takes over and innovation dies.  Dissent is squelched and bad ideas become trending norms.  Mob rules at its worst and the weakest minded individuals pay the price just as much as some of the sharpest and smartest minds of our time.  Nobody gets a pass on the results of this catastrophe.

To make matters worse, true technology innovators aren't necessarily governed by the rule of law and aren't required to uphold a patron's constitutional rights.  Given the transition of information platforms, this will be the fatal blow to our First Amendment rights as free thinking individuals.

Our rights and liberties have been traded for the Terms of Service of your favorite platform and the bottom line of your favorite provider will dictate which information is acceptable for you to consume.  You have been determined to no longer have the mental faculties needed in order to judge for yourself.  Make no mistake, this is the beginning of another dark age.

We can argue details all day about what content is acceptable for a private information platform to allow, but the truth of the matter is it's right and wrong at the same time.  Remember the three sides of the truth?  The private information platform's truth is they should have the right to control content.  The fear driven super-majority's truth is they should have access to reliable information.  Unfortunately, the real truth is that information should not be prejudged before allowing others to make up their own minds about it.

How do we fix it?

There's no quick and easy solution.  Getting here was a natural evolution based on mostly good intentions and getting out of it will be a substantially difficult process spanning generations.  It will require both current and future innovators and technology leaders to get back to basics and change their way of thinking.

Ultimately, it requires a fundamental change of culture across our society that requires a big picture view.