Kickstarter's and Ken Hoinsky: How Free Should Speech Be on the Web? : The New Yorker

Kickstarter's and Ken Hoinsky: How Free Should Speech Be on the Web? : The New Yorker: Kickstarter is only the most recent technology company to find itself forced to choose what kind of speech is allowed on its platform. Companies that traffic in the self-expression of their users, like Facebook and Twitter, have frequently been pushed to make difficult choices about the kinds of speech they tolerate, particularly as they have begun to rely on advertising for revenue (advertisers do not want to find their products next to offensive content). Few services promise absolute, unrestricted expression, though Twitter and Tumblr tend to be far more permissive than Facebook. All of the major services have all been pressured at one point in their history to remove some kind of content: Facebook tolerated “pro-rape” groups until an outcry forced their removal; Twitter pulled tweets containing an anti-Semitic hashtag following complaints from the Union of French Jewish Students; and Tumblr has banned blogs that promote eating disorders.