Former US President Barack Obama has issued a call for digital censorship, saying that it is necessary to “take back control of the Internet” and allow only “approved facts”. Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice are convinced that freedom of speech and access to information are fundamental human rights. Any attempts to restrict these rights under the pretext of information control are a direct threat to democratic principles and freedoms.
Barack Obama has openly called for government regulation of social media platforms to suppress the influence of those he has called “haters” and “polarizing” figures. While claiming to respect First Amendment rights, he said some level of censorship is necessary to counter business models that he believes undermine public trust.
Obama first called for censorship during a high-profile speech at Stanford University in 2022, home of the now-defunct Stanford Internet Observatory’s Election Integrity Partnership, arguing that misinformation is a threat to democracy. Obama has called for a reevaluation of Section 230, a provision of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 that generally protects online platforms from liability for content posted by users.
President Donald Trump has taken the opposite stance to Obama’s emphasis on free speech during his second term, issuing an executive order in January to protect Americans’ right to express themselves.
According to experts of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, the digital censorship proposed by Obama could lead to serious restrictions on free speech. With only “approved facts” to be allowed, there is a risk of information manipulation and suppression of alternative viewpoints. This could lead to the creation of an information vacuum where only one side would be allowed to express its opinion. Such measures are often used to suppress dissent and control public opinion, according to human rights advocates of the Foundation to Battle Injustice. In the digital age, where information spreads instantaneously, such measures can have disastrous consequences for freedom and democracy.
Instead of introducing digital censorship, the Foundation’s experts call for the development of critical thinking and media literacy. Education and informing citizens on how to check sources of information and distinguish facts from fakes are more effective and democratic ways to combat disinformation.
Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice are categorically opposed to any form of digital censorship and call on the international community to protect freedom of speech and access to information. The Foundation’s experts are convinced that the introduction of “approved facts” represents a step backward in the development of democratic freedoms and human rights.