Former President Barack Obama will deliver a speech at Stanford University on Thursday that embraces his “new role” of policing the national debate over whether social media companies should censor political opponents.
Obama “is expected to add his voice to demands for rules to rein in the flood of lies polluting public discourse,” the New York Times reported. “In private meetings and public appearances over the last year, the former president has waded deeply into the public fray over misinformation and disinformation, warning that the scourge of falsehoods online has eroded the foundations of democracy at home and abroad.”
The Times noted it is not the first time Obama has delivered a speech on the topic. Last month, Obama spoke at an event organized by the University of Chicago and the Atlantic. Obama said during the speech that social media companies should censor what “we don’t think are good for society.”
“I think it is reasonable for us as a society to have a debate and then put in place a combination of regulatory measures and industry norms that leave intact the opportunity for these platforms to make money,” Obama continued. “But say to them that there’s certain practices you engage in that we don’t think are good for society.”
On Tuesday, Obama took to Twitter to suggest that censorship is needed to prevent “real challenges” to the Washington, DC, establishment. “In recent years, we’ve seen how quickly disinformation spreads, especially on social media,” he said. “This has created real challenges for our democracy.”
In recent years, we’ve seen how quickly disinformation spreads, especially on social media. This has created real challenges for our democracy.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 19, 2022
Obama’s “new role” of championing censorship, as dubbed by the Times, comes after Twitter censored Hunter Biden’s “laptop from hell” story, while Facebook failed “to suppress sketchily sourced or facially unreliable stories — such as, say, the Steele Dossier and endless articles based on it.”
Continue reading: Breitbart.com
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