EFF: Twitter’s Ban on Russia Today Ads is Dangerous to Free Expression
Twitter’s Ban on Russia Today Ads is Dangerous to Free Expression Freedom of speech “presupposes that right conclusions are more likely to be gathered out of a multitude of tongues, than through any kind of authoritative selection. To many this is, and always will be, folly; but we have staked upon it our all.” – United States v. Associated Press, 52 F. Supp. 362, 372 (S.D.N.Y. 1943) (opinion of the court by Judge Learned Hand), aff’d, 326 U.S. 1 (1945). On October 26, Twitter decided to ban “ advertising from all accounts owned by Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik ,” two Russian state-owned media outlets. Twitter was reacting to an assessment by the United States intelligence community that RT and Sputnik interfered with the U.S. election on behalf of the Russian government, as well as Twitter’s (non-public) internal research. Many may be tempted to celebrate Twitter’s decision as a move to protect democracy from an authoritarian state. We fear it’s just the opposite. There see...