EFF Not Thrilled With Tech Companies Blocking Hate Groups

While hate groups in general are not tolerated on most websites and services, the recent events in Charlottesville has led quite a few tech companies to publicly denounce these groups and also ban them from using their services. This includes Apple and PayPal, Spotify, Deezer, Google, and GoDaddy, just to name a few.

All the tech companies basically state that these groups violate their policies, which is why they have been blocked, banned, and/or removed. It actually seems like a good thing, but the Electronic Frontier Foundation doesn’t seem to think so. However the group isn’t protesting this because they believe that these groups should exist, but rather the implications behind tech companies picking and choosing who they ban.

Basically they are claiming that regardless of what rhetoric the other side is putting out there, it should be protected as free speech. “Protecting free speech is not something we do because we agree with all of the speech that gets protected. We do it because we believe that no one—not the government and not private commercial enterprises—should decide who gets to speak and who doesn’t.”

They also add that this could set a troubling precedent because in the future, “there’s always a risk that others—including governments—will use the opaqueness of the takedown process to silence legitimate voices,” but what do you guys think? Were these tech companies within their rights to block these websites?

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Legal