First Amendment

Mark Zuckerberg is wrapping himself and Facebook in the First Amendment by allowing Holocaust deniers a voice. The unknown question is whether the public will tolerate free and unpopular speech on the platform. It might be a risky move for Zuckerberg to take. He has already been forced to excise political speech and advertising traced to Russians. There is no telling what authorities will ask for next or what activists will condemn. He has set limits for hoaxers and for those who would urge harm to others. However, he says, “Okay, you have your page, and if you’re not trying to organize harm against someone, or attacking someone, then you can put up that content on your page, even if people might disagree with it or find it offensive.’ But that doesn’t mean that we have a responsibility to make it widely distributed in News Feed.” Even though he is correct according to the law, he should be prepared for ongoing PR challenges.