Owen Benjamin is staying on Rokfin, but...
The free speech debate goes on
I’m listening to Owen right now on Rokfin and from what I can tell he’s staying on the network but he’s agreed to curtail his speech in some ways. He says Rokfin told him he can’t do any more jokes about black people eating bananas, for example.
I’ve been thinking a lot about free speech with the Twitter takeover and the Owen / Rokfin situation. In particular I’ve been thinking about what kind of free speech is possible in the real world vs. the ideal world. I might be wrong but I think most people reading this would probably consider themselves “free speech absolutists”. If it’s legal to say, then nobody should ban you for saying it. That’s the ideal world. That’s what Elon Musk says he wants for Twitter. But…
I don’t like Shaun King, that’s not the point of posting this. The point is that this is the real world, where gatekeepers like Apple, Google and Amazon can still keep down “free speech” platforms like Twitter, Rokfin or Gab if they want to. Gab has free speech but that’s why they’re not allowed in the App Store. If Apple got pressure from the ADL about Owen Benjamin being on Rokfin, Rokfin could be on the chopping block next.
So what should a “free speech” platform do? Should it be like Gab and say fuck the App Store, we’re sticking to our principles? Or should it be like GETTR or Rokfin and offer as much free speech as they can while staying within the (admittedly arbitrary) rules?
Now Owen is supposedly going to change his speech to stay on Rokfin. Is that a win for free speech or a loss? Let me know what you think in the comments.
The internet isn’t designed for free speech. More of us need to talk offline, outside, away from the reach of an application platform or social media site.
If the speech calls for illegal activity or is violent speech it should be curtailed for obvious reasons and private platforms can make their own rules. But the real issue is the double standard on what is considered hate speech by big tech. Shaun King certainly doesn’t think speech against white people should be policed, for example, it would destroy his career. And many others are policed for speech that isn’t hateful, or is only considered hateful because of who they are.