Why we should worry about the censorship of the far left

There are many important, principled arguments for free speech. But one of the most convincing is purely tactical. Why empower the powerful to police debate when that power could so easily be wielded against you in the future? The logic of censorship always leads to more censorship, and the authoritarian left is starting to bear some of the brunt of this.

Last Friday, the Socialist Workers Party announced it had been booted off Facebook. In a press release, it said Facebook had suspended the party’s main account as well as those of activists and local SWP groups. After a backlash, its main page was reinstated but, according to a follow-up statement, ‘dozens of SWP activists and local branch pages remain suspended’.

The SWP said Facebook’s censorship ‘amounts to a silencing of political activists’. Which is true. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, in particular, constitute the new public square. Allowing these unaccountable corporations to police debate and discussion on their platforms amounts to a grave threat to free speech and democracy in the 21st century.