Free speech too important to become a political football.

Free speech has become a black-or-white issue for many. But, like pretty much anything that truly matters, the truth is in the nuance.

Jemima Kelly’s article in the Financial Times does a good job of navigating this.

Too often, the conversation around free speech is reduced to “misinformation bad!” from the left, and “censorship worse!” from the right. Too often, there seems to be a reluctance among right-thinking types to condemn censorship simply because of the dubious credentials — not to mention self-interest — of some of the characters who do complain about what they call the “censorship industrial complex”…

…It is clear that there are important conversations to be had around how to regulate platforms such as X, to change the profit incentives away from promoting hateful and incendiary content. It is also the case that there must be limits to free speech, as laid out by the law in many countries — “free speech absolutism” is neither a reality nor something we should aspire to. But we must not allow our most important principles to become tainted by the people who defend them. Free speech is far too important to become a political football.

[ft.com]