A Brief History of ‘Deep Deplatforming’

Will DuffieldOver the past two weeks, a host of internet infrastructure providers have withdrawn service from websites associated with or used by the far-right. Parler, a Twitter alternative popular among Trump supporters, was quickly removed from the Apple and Google app stores before being dropped by its web host, Amazon. This decision knocked Parler ’s website offline and prompted a new wave of concerns about the power of technology companies to curtail speech. While infrastructural deplatforming is not unprecedented, the current cascade of refusals is broader and more politically salient than past episodes. The moment seems right to assess h ow deplatforming by infrastructure providers has shaped the internet’s development in the past.Traditionally, we think of content moderation as happening on the edge layer of the internet. Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube bans a user, and they must find another platform. Sometimes, however, services deeper in “the stack” of technologies that make up the internet bar higher level intermediaries from using their tools. These decisions affect entire platforms rather than specific users. In some cases, there are few alternatives to these lower-stack services. After being dropped by Amazon, Parler was rep ortedlydenied service by six other hosting firms. Parler has since returned online as a blog via domain registrar Epik and Russian content delivery service DDos-Guard  but has not found a permanent hosting solution.By constraining a...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - January 22, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Will Duffield Source Type: blogs