海角大神

The sweeping ban Monday by Apple, Facebook, and YouTube on content produced by conspiracy broadcaster Alex Jones poses intriguing moral questions about hate speech and free speech rights.

Conservatives aren鈥檛 defending Mr. Jones鈥檚 wild theories. But some are concerned about censorship. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 support Alex Jones and what InfoWars produces. He鈥檚 not a conservative. However, banning him and his outlet is wrong,鈥� . 鈥淪ocial media sites are supposedly neutral platforms, but they are increasingly becoming opportunities for the left and major media to censor any content that they don鈥檛 like,鈥� he says.

Conservative columnist David French writes that Jones 鈥渉as no regard for truth or decency [and] is finally getting what he deserves,鈥� adding that 鈥渢here is no First Amendment violation when a private company chooses to boot anyone off a private platform.鈥� In Mr. French writes that 鈥渉ate speech鈥� is too vague a standard for censorship. He suggests social media companies challenge untruths with libel and slander law.

America is navigating an era of pervasive falsehoods and of testing the limits of the First Amendment (religious speech, printing of 3-D guns, ). There are no simple answers. But these cases challenge all Americans to check their own moral compass, as voting members of a democratic society.

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