Blaming the Tools: Britain Proposes a Social-Media Ban

(page 2 of 2)

As author and journalism professor Jeff Jarvis has noted in his response to the British Prime Minister’s comments, democratic governments have to be very careful in making moves that curtail free speech, even if they think their motivation is justified. And as others have pointed out, Britain is already on what many believe is the wrong side of the freedom of speech issue in other ways—including its support for so-called super-injunctions that restrict the publication of certain information about court cases in that country and in some cases have resulted in bans on using social media.

CRACKDOWN ON TELEPHONES, TOO?

If social-media tools such as Twitter and Facebook hadn’t been invented yet, would Britain’s Prime Minister be considering a crackdown on telephone use, or the publication of images on blogs or websites? Would the British police be questioning or arresting people for discussing the unrest and violence in bars or the public square? That seems unlikely (although not impossible). But the British government’s apparent willingness to consider shutting down or blocking access to Twitter and BlackBerry’s BBM falls into the same category.

Fundamentally, these tools are used for what amounts to public speech. That speech can be about violence and where a mob should go next to burn something, or it can be about how to overthrow a dictator. It can be about images of disorder and calls for looting, or it can be about how to organize a cleanup crew.

It may be tempting to smother that kind of speech when a government feels it is under siege, as Britain seems to feel. But doing this represents nothing less than an attack on the entire concept of freedom of speech, and that has some frightening consequences for any democracy.

Also from GigaOM:

Privacy: How to Avoid the Third Rail of Online Services (subscription required)

With Redbox Deal, Foursquare Goes Beyond Bar Hoppers

Carbonite’s IPO Shows the Tough Keep Going

Provided by GigaOm—