
January 26, 2021
All-In Podcast | Big tech Banning Trump, The Ramifications For The First Amendment & The open Internet
Watch the All-In Podcast on Youtube
Key Takeaways
- People forget there are legitimate views on both sides of a polarizing topic; a nuanced opinion can trigger either side against you. Thus, patience and tolerance are important
- Freedom of speech is vital for democracy and freedom, it’s now under the threat of censorship. The biggest power grab in history has happened
- “Our free speech rights got privatized, the town square got digitized and centralized” – David Sacks
- Thus, it’s vital to create an online bill of rights, defendable in court
- “Censorship always starts as something you like and it ends as something you don’t like when it finally gets turned against you” – David Sacks
- Decentralized apps and protocols are the free-market answer to censorship
- A possible second-order consequence of ban-policy: governments consider social media reach as a lever of national power and may demand nationalizing the rails of social media to allow their operation
Intro
- Chamath Palihapitiya (@chamath) is the CEO of Social Capital
- David Sacks (@DavidSacks) is the founder of Craft Ventures and cofounder of Yammer and PayPal
- David Friedberg (@friedberg) is the founder and CEO of The Production Board
- Host: Jason Calacanis (@Jason)
On Polarizing Topics
- People forget there are legitimate views on both sides of a polarizing topic (e.g. Trump); nuanced opinion can trigger either side against you
- Thus, patience and tolerance are important
- “Don’t fall for the simple, easy, out. To assume that being a conservative means you are a Trump supporter, or being a liberal means you are not a Trump supporter” – Chamath Palihapitiya
- David Sacks describes himself as anti-hysteria, whether that means criticizing Trump or the resistance
- Chamath characterizes his political views as sometimes conservative, calling for less intervention from an incompetent government
- While supporting more government intervention in dire cases that require public mandates, such as climate change or health care
Free Speech Online
- Freedom of speech is vital for democracy and freedom, it’s now under the threat of censorship. The biggest power grab in history has happened
- Your online identity and right to participate in public conversation can be taken away with no explanation
- “Our free speech rights got privatized, the town square got digitized and centralized”
- “Half a dozen oligarchs now have the right to determine what we see and read and people are cheering” – David Sacks
- Tech companies reacted in unison and issued bans that are beyond any legal requirements, this is a slippery slope of subjective censorship
Laws and Big Tech Censorship
- Big tech operates as a quasi-governmental organization with the choice to operate in a free market or as a monopoly.
- As a result, power becomes in the shadows, with no accountability, due process of law, or a way to redress rights infringements
- Put it this way, “who do we appeal to when we get canceled by Google or Apple?” – David Sacks
- As a result, power becomes in the shadows, with no accountability, due process of law, or a way to redress rights infringements
- Basic observation: “The law hasn’t kept up with the internet” – David Friedberg
- Censorship laws ultimately boil down to: “who has the power to decide?”
- Thus, there is an argument for an internet court that creates online standards, defendable in court
- Some may argue online platforms are private services that can be disrupted on the open Internet. However, alternatives like Parler were also banned
Consequences of Censorship
- “Censorship always starts as something you like and it ends as something you don’t like when it finally gets turned against you” – David Sacks
- Governments consider social media reach as a lever of national power and may demand nationalizing the rails of social media to allow their operation
- Keep in mind, major social media platforms are too complicated to have a single team implementing international policies
- Social media CEOs face the pressure to implement a ban policy from both employees and politicians
- “Jack is leading Twitter from behind, the mob runs Twitter now” – David Sacks
Alternatives to Censorship
- A moderation policy that is consistent with the first amendment could mean a temporary suspension or a certain tweet ban rather than a lifetime ban and de-platforming
- Information wants to be free. Decentralized apps and protocols are the free-market answer to censorship (E.g. Bitcoin and Mastodon)
- Forming an online bill of rights that is defendable in court
A Closing Thought
- Only in America: Anthony Noto and Chamath Palihapitiya both grew up on welfare programs, they took SoFi public in a major deal