The case for canceling censorship

In our society, a lot of people view free speech as something that leads to harm and violence

But I would argue that free speech is actually the antithesis of violence

It's really a revolutionary way for human beings living in complex societies to facilitate collective action

But when you suppress it, it becomes a pressure cooker and it's much more likely to erupt into violence

If you're allowed to criticize the government, criticize different ideas, you have an opportunity to change things for the better according to your beliefs

But if you're denied that opportunity, and if you're denied that opportunity by use of force

well then maybe you also more likely to say well then me using violence is also justified because I can criticize the government If I do so they put me in jail or kill me

And so the only way for me to institute change is to use violence

So that's a vicious cycle, right? And so generally in democracies, we see that free speech results in less violent social conflict

Be very careful what you wish for. Free speech has its harms and costs

It has its ugly sides. Those ugly sides are more visible in our digital age

But if we adopt more strict censorship, the cure is very likely to be worse than the disease

And freedom, democracy, equality and tolerance are likely to suffer. and we're more likely to live in a more violent than a less violent world