Combating COVID-19 Misinformation with Disassociation

Matthew FeeneyDeadly misinformation spread across social media long before COVID-19 emerged, but amid the ongoing pandemic attempts to tackle such content are once again in the limelight. These efforts provide an opportunity for classical liberals to emphasize the importance of freedom of association and to prepare for discussions about how private institutions handle misinformation amid a  crisis.Too often we think of the freedom of speech to be a  freedom that protects speakers from government censorship. And while the freedom to speak is a necessary condition for a functioning liberal society it’s not the only freedom implicated in what people refer to as “the freedom of speech.” The freedom of speech also entails a freedom for pu blishers and platforms to associate with whomever they want. ThatThe Wall Street Journalis free to reject an op ‐​ed submission written by the leader of the American Nazi Party is as important a freedom as the freedom of the leader of the American Nazi Party to write the op‐​ed in the first place.The Internet has prompted a  revolution unlike anything seen since the invention of the moveable type printing press. Billions of people are able to not only express themselves but form communities of like‐​minded people across national boundaries. Fortunately, the widespread availability of venues for online speech has n ot been accompanied by obligations on the part of Internet companies to host speech they find repellent or da...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs