Morning Jolt: Should Alex Jones Be Banned from Social Media?

Yesterday, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Spotify erased most of the posts and videos on their services from raving lunatic/radio- and web-show host Alex Jones.

Today, our David French pops up in the New York Times, offering the tech companies a better, clearer standard for when they can and should bar users, grounded in decades of established law.

Tech companies don't have to rely on vague, malleable and hotly contested definitions of hate speech to deal with conspiracy theorists like Mr. Jones. The far better option would be to prohibit libel or slander on their platforms.

To be sure, this would tie their hands more: Unlike "hate speech," libel and slander have legal meanings. There is a long history of using libel and slander laws to protect especially private figures from false claims. It's properly more difficult to use those laws to punish ...

August 07 2018

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Should Alex Jones Be Banned from Social Media? Jim Geraghty Yesterday, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Spotify erased most of the posts and videos on their services from raving lunatic/radio- and web-show host Alex Jones. Today, our David French pops up in the New York Times, offering the tech companies a better, clearer standard for when they can and should bar users, grounded in decades of established law. Tech companies don't have to rely on vague, malleable and hotly contested definitions of hate speech to deal with conspiracy theorists like Mr. Jones. The far better option would be to prohibit libel or slander on their platforms. To be sure, this would tie their hands more: Unlike "hate speech," libel and slander have legal meanings. There is a long history of using libel and slander laws to protect especially private figures from false claims. It's properly more difficult to use those laws to punish ... Read More ADVERTISEMENT Top Stories Elizabeth Warren's Lie Rich Lowry Elizabeth Warren is wrong. Our criminal-justice system is not racist 'front to back.' The biggest reason for the overall disparity in incarceration rates for blacks and non-blacks is different rates of offending. Blacks account for about 50 percent of homicides. The Police Were Not Policed Victor Davis Hanson The public will not be able to square such a circle — believe that the intelligence agencies are trustworthy now, while knowing they were deeply corrupt in the very recent past — unless there is some accountability for U.S. government misdeeds. REPORT: Israeli Intelligence Assassinates Syrian Rocket Scientist Jack Crowe The Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, assassinated a top Syrian rocket scientist on Saturday using a car bomb, ADVERTISEMENT Pope Francis Rewrites Catholicism . . . and the Bible Dennis Prager Genesis: 'Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.' The pope: Nah. 'Socialist' Is the New 'Libertarian' Kevin D. Williamson Real socialism isn't what anxious young Americans are looking for. Congress Shouldn't Reward the U.S. Virgin Islands' Fiscal Profligacy Jack Crowe Years of mismanagement have left the U.S. Virgin Islands' government barely afloat, and asking for a massive federal bailout. Marco Rubio's Paid-Leave Plan Shows How Conservatives Can Embrace Working-Class Families Samuel Hammond The hit to working-class finances felt after child birth represents the 'social insecurity of our time.' Hollywood City Council Votes to Remove Trump's Walk of Fame Star Over 'His Disturbing... Jack Crowe The West Hollywood city council voted unanimously Monday evening in favor of urging the Los Angeles City Council and Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to permanently remove president... ADVERTISEMENT JOIN NRPLUS All Our Content. Fewer Ads. Members-Only Privileges. NRPLUS is everything you would associate with a digital magazine subscription, and a whole lot more ─ including up to 90% fewer on-site ads, access to our private Facebook group, full commenting privileges, and invites to our writer/editor conference calls. SAVE 40% TODAY Photo Essays Sports Shots Cartoons of the Day: August 6, 2018 ADVERTISEMENT Follow Us & Share 19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY, 10036, USA Your Preferences | Unsubscribe | Privacy View this e-mail in your browser.