Capitol riots: When free speech kills democracy - analysis

• Published date: 07 January 2021
• Author: YONAH JEREMY BOB
• Date: 07 January 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Without getting into the debate over Holmes' legacy on free speech, Wednesday's pro-Trump protests in Washington, which morphed into a mob attack on the US Capitol, is the most blatant wake-up call of many recent incidents that the limits of free speech and protests may need to be reconsidered.

Free speech and the freedom to protest are critical oxygen to democracy.

But free speech and protesting unhinged can also kill, as it did with one of the rioters on Wednesday.

In the modern era of social media disinformation campaigns, of a new absence of courage among the political class to condemn speech that undermines the rule of law, and a general trend toward tribalism in the US, Israel and elsewhere, it is probably long past time to recognize that new limits are needed on speech until these trends become less volatile.

It would be more ideal if all sides of our societies could have an adult conversation and merely agree, without legislation, to act better and more respectfully.

Incidentally, for decades most European countries have had certain limits barring some kinds of speech that the US's more extreme free speech laws and that Israel's more extreme anything goes culture allow.

In an age where violence against the US Congress, the Israeli Supreme Court, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be unthinkable, maybe such limits would be unnecessary.

But we already know that Russia, China, Iran and others are trying to systematically fool and inflame Americans into hating each other with sophisticated disinformation and doctored media.

We also know that foreign actors and some irresponsible domestic political officials in both the US and Israel have used social media to do the same at times.

In an era where some Israeli officials talk about using a D-9 bulldozer on the Israeli Supreme Court, where protests in the US and Israel on both the Left and the Right sometimes seem unwilling to accept either election results or decisions by law enforcement, we may need to protect ourselves from ourselves – especially on social media.

Both Democrats and Republicans have been furious with Facebook and other social media giants over their conduct during the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections.

They pretty much agree that bipartisan regulation is needed to set standards for social media, especially surrounding elections, so that extreme and destabilizing foreign and domestic speech will be contained on both sides of the aisle.

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