Censorship Should Be a Dirty Word

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Censorship has [music] always been a dirty word in America, but over the past few years it's become increasingly acceptable for tech [music] companies to censor or deplatform prominent people or organizations who hold [music] controversial or unpopular opinions. It all started with Milo Yiannopoulos and Alex Jones, and we all shrugged our shoulders and said, "Tech companies are private. They can do what they want, right?"

[00:00:21]But, of course, [music] it's always a slippery slope. The motivation behind censorship is fear. Fear that unrestricted speech might cause [music] injury, propagate hate speech, or even question the mainstream.

[00:00:32]The idea that we should be protected from speech that might harm us goes all the way [music] back to Plato, probably much earlier. The principle of free speech is, by historical standards, new.

[00:00:42]But, far from being a fad, freedom of speech is a key component of reason and enlightenment.