The Problem of Free Speech in an Age of Disinformation
Society is misdiagnosing the issue here.<p>It&#x27;s not unchecked free speech. Instead, it&#x27;s unchecked curation by media and social media companies with the goal of engagement.<p>As long as media companies get the most benefit from people engaging with content, they will continue to promote information that is damaging to society. It may even be true information but when the goal is engagement, it&#x27;s purpose will be to enrage and divide because that&#x27;s what&#x27;s engaging.<p>Limiting speech will not cause this issue to go away. It&#x27;s bigger than just misinformation. The core issue is the underlying system that values engagement over all things. That is, the advertising system.<p>Companies that make their money selling ads while providing content to engage have a perverse incentive to make society worse. This is the bad seed that needs removal.<p>This business model should be illegal. It&#x27;s already trivially unethical.