I'm conflicted about Parler, the new social platform that claims to allow people to, as per their homepage, "(s)peak freely and express yourself openly, without fear of being “deplatformed” for your views."
I've been a passionate free-speech advocate for as long as I can remember. I believe there are very few acceptable reasons to limit people's ability to voice their opinions in a free society, and believe big-tech's ability to moderate our collective opinions is potentially harmful. (On that last point, I know I'm not alone: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified to a Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, where they were asked -- among other things -- how information permitted and banned on their platforms may have influenced the 2020 election.)
But I also highly-value intelligent, truthful, rational arguments. And you only have to visit any of today's most popular social media platforms briefly to see they're filled with too many nonsensical, false, irrational comments.
Where's the line between controversial (but fair) and unacceptable?
What's the balance between "free" and "responsible" speech?
There aren't always clear answers to those questions.
But I suspect a new, "free-for-all" platform isn't the solution.
- dp
P.S. Those who know me won't be surprised to know I've signed up for a Parler account; I sign up for almost all new social media platforms when they launch to ensure I have first-hand knowledge about how they work and what marketing opportunities might exist within them. I just don't see myself contributing any content; at least for the time being, sharing my thoughts on LinkedIn, on Twitter, and via this newsletter work for me.