Important read, on Slate "Mark Zuckerberg is Defending Letting Politicians Pay to Lie"

What Facebook’s “Free Speech” Lets Slide
Mark Zuckerberg used a speech about expression on the platform to defend letting politicians pay to lie.
By APRIL GLASER

OCT 18, 20196:57 PM

https://slate.com/technology/2019/10/mark-zuckerberg-facebooks-free-speech-politicians-lie.html

Mark Zuckerberg visited Georgetown University on Thursday to deliver the “most comprehensive take” he’s ever shared on his views on free speech. No wonder that Zuckerberg began his appearance by revising his company’s well-known origin story, explaining that as a college student he believed giving voice to more perspectives might have prevented the Iraq war, and that this inspired him when he was developing Facebook. (Odd, considering Facebook famously grew out of FaceMash, a hot-or-not website featuring pictures of Harvard students.)

The speech situated the company as a torchbearer of the fundamental American tradition of free speech, which Zuckerberg stressed is no easy task, especially when the company is under the immense pressure it has faced in recent years: “Some people believe giving more people a voice is driving division rather than bringing us together,” Zuckerberg said. “More people across the spectrum believe that achieving the political outcomes they think matter is more important than every person having a voice.”

These people have a “dangerous” opinion, Zuckerberg said, but he never specified who those people are. I’ve been covering the debate over Facebook’s content moderation and speech policies for the past two years, following its critics and defenders as the company has dealt with harms resulting from its social network in the United States and abroad. As far as I can tell, none of the critics who are calling for Facebook to act faster, more consistently, and more transparently when it comes to removing harmful content—that is, some speech—are asking for Facebook to help them achieve political outcomes by silencing others.

Many of the company’s critics—academics, human rights advocates, opinion journalists—are asking Facebook to protect the people who have come to depend on it and who wish to speak freely and engage in political and social life from being harmed by content that is dangerous for democratic participation, has stoked discrimination of minority groups, or has the intention of promoting real-world violence. This isn’t about any particular political agenda. It’s about protecting and creating spaces that make politics possible.

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long, but worthwhile read.