In an interview with CBS News, Partner Michael Niborski discussed the free speech issues confronting Silicon Valley and other online businesses in the wake of the deadly August 12th demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Following the attack which left one protester dead and many others injured, ethical questions have arisen for companies - particularly in the technology sector - concerning the kind of speech and conduct that will be prohibited on their platforms. In response to the recent violence, Tech giants like PayPal, Facebook and Spotify have respectively decided to ban white supremacist and neo-Nazi users from sending money, posting comments and listening to "white power music."
Further, PayPal issued a statement in which it told users, "Regardless of the individual or organization in question, we work to ensure that our services are not used to accept payments or donations for activities that promote hate, violence or racial intolerance." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg echoed these sentiments in his own post, writing, "Debate is part of a healthy society. But when someone tries to silence others or attacks them based on who they are or what they believe, that hurts us all and is unacceptable."
Though some customers have criticized the actions taken by these companies as violations of free speech, private businesses have a right to set terms of service and codes of conduct for users and employees and to discipline individuals who breach them.
"People confuse the fact that the government is not allowed to restrict free speech, but private companies are," Niborski explained. "It's a cost-benefit analysis by the company: Are we going to lose customers? Are we going to get bad publicity because we are giving them a platform or a website and allowing them to display their music?"
He added, "One thing that makes this particularly unique is you are talking about one of the most vilified, negative groups in history, and so companies feel protected in taking their music down."
To read the full CBS News article, click here.
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