Ep. 225: Debating social media content moderation

Can free speech and content moderation on social media coexist?


Jonathan Rauch and Renee DiResta discuss the complexities of
content moderation on social media platforms. They explore how
platforms balance free expression with the need to moderate
harmful content and the consequences of censorship in a digital
world.


Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution
and the author of “The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of
Truth” and “Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought.”
Renee DiResta was the technical research manager at the Stanford
Internet Observatory and contributed to the Election Integrity
Partnership report and the Virality Project. Her new book is
“Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality.”


READ THE TRANSCRIPT.


Timestamps:


00:00 Intro


03:14 Content moderation and free speech


12:33 The Election Integrity Partnership


18:43 What activity does the First Amendment not protect?


21:44 Backfire effect of moderation


26:01 The Virality Project


30:54 Misinformation over the past decade


37:33 Did Trump’s Jan 6th speech meet the standard for
incitement?


44:12 Double standards of content moderation


01:00:05 Jawboning


01:11:10 Outro


Show notes:


Election Integrity Partnership report (2021)


The Virality Project (2022)


Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton (2024)


“This Place Rules” (2022)


Murthy v. Missouri (2024)


“Why Scholars Should Stop Studying 'Misinformation',” by Jacob N.
Shapiro and Sean Norton (2024)


“FIRE Statement on Free Speech and Social Media”