A new law went into effect in New York State on Saturday and it has free speech advocates up in arms for good reason. The law seeks to squelch any vaguely-defined instances of “hate speech” online. But this one goes much further than previous proposals to silence people on the major social media platforms. It applies to blogs and any other websites that allow readers to leave comments… such as the one you are reading right now. The law requires the operators of such sites to post a content moderation policy, and remove comments that may offend or “incite violence against” a list of favored demographic groups. This would not only create a massive amount of work for the newly enlisted moderators but would represent the censorship of free speech. The law would also apply to Eugene Volokh, co-founder of The Volokh Conspiracy, and he’s not putting up with it. He has joined a lawsuit against the state seeking to have the law struck down and he writes about it in the Wall Street Journal.Read More
New York’s new “hate speech” law must be rejected
