Digital Rights Dissenters

Discussion

Andrew Lowenthal:

"The digital rights “dissenters” are those who have maintained their commitment to free speech and civil liberties, while the mainstream has shifted to advocacy for censorship and safetyism. Of course, this mainstream doesn’t believe they are censors, they describe their work in vague terms such as “anti-disinformation”, or “combating hate”. These concepts however are now mostly weaponized to silence political opponents. Many NGOs and academics have become government proxies for censorship.

The field is overwhelmingly convinced that populism is the biggest threat to freedom online. I believe the captured digital rights field itself is an equal if not greater threat because they are aggressively undermining freedom of expression norms, often in collaboration with the government. They give “virtue cover” to a new progressive authoritarianism.

From personal experience, I know that many are unhappy with this state of affairs, but that ideological conformity and fear of punishment are stopping many from speaking out. A very unhealthy state of affairs indeed for a field that prides itself on “freedom of expression”.

We seek to break this silence by convening the dissenters."

(https://networkaffects.substack.com/p/convening-of-digital-rights-dissenters)