Description

This article focuses on the common themes that unite efforts to regulate both speech and privacy. Adam Thierer and Berin Szoka of The Progress & Freedom Foundation (www.pff.org) argue that elitism unites these two movements. They attack not so much the argument made by some leaders, activists, or intellectuals that they have a better idea of what it in the public’s best interest than the public itself does, but rather the imposition of those beliefs through coercive, top-down mandates. Thierer & Szoka show how two elitist beliefs in particular are at the root of almost all privacy and speech regulatory efforts: (1) the belief that people are too ignorant (or simply too busy) to be trusted to make wise decisions for themselves (or their children); and/or, (2) the belief that all or most people share essentially the same values or concerns and, therefore, “community standards” should trump household (or individual) standards. Enforcing these elitist beliefs by law threatens individual liberty and free speech as well as the future of free and open Internet. As an alternative to this elitist vision, the authors advocate an empowerment agenda: fostering an environment in which users have the tools and information they need to make decisions for themselves and their families. The article also discusses other parallels between the two movements, including internal philosophical inconsistencies on both the Left and Right, common mechanisms (mandating restrictive defaults, the “nudges” of so-called libertarian paternalism and regulatory blackmail), political tactics (the use of a crisis mentality), and motivations (the psychological phenomenon of the “third-person effect”).