BASEDPolitics Brad Polumbo writes, “Right-of-center Americans are understandably frustrated with the various social media platforms, given their ham-handed censorship and obvious political biases. But too many are falling for false solutions… that would give the government more control over the internet.

This is a terrible idea, for the reasons Rogan laid out on Friday.

‘You trust the government to regulate the internet?’ the host asked after his guest, Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner, who said he ‘absolutely’ trusted the government to regulate what we say online. ‘You trust the people who got us into the Iraq War under false pretenses to regulate the internet?’

This first point is spot-on. Trusting the government to regulate so-called ‘misinformation’ online naively presumes that politicians and bureaucrats have some divine insight into what’s true and what’s false. In reality, the government itself often pushes dis or misinformation, about everything from nutrition to health policy to the economy.

Furthermore, this naive approach also assumes that government actors will actor benevolently, in the public interest. But we shouldn’t make that assumption, Rogan explains.

‘They’re going to regulate the internet in a way that suits their best interests,’ he said. ‘The same way they do with the environment, with energy, with everything.”

Read the entire column.

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FEE’s Brad Polumbo writes, “If you ever need a reminder of how important freedom of speech is, all you need to do is look across the pond. The United Kingdom, which doesn’t have a First Amendment, has slowly seen citizens’ free speech rights eroded—and now may soon start imprisoning people for being trolls on the internet.

This blatant attempt at the censorship of online speech is deeply concerning. https://t.co/aCG0OevHhP

— FEE (@feeonline) November 4, 2021

At question is pending legislation called the ‘Online Safety Bill,’ which ostensibly punishes social media companies that allow harassment. Yet it may be expanded to include new criminal penalties for individuals who engage in mean speech online.

‘Trolls could face two years in prison for sending messages or posting content that causes psychological harm under legislation targeting online hate,’ the Times of London reports.”

Read the entire column.

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