Katie Roche's Blog

It Could Be You- Why We Need to Stand Against Social Media Censorship

Reddit GenderCritical was closed today, as part of a purge of “hate speech” subreddits. I never posted on the site, but I was a lurker. It was the best feminist social media page on the internet. They never endorsed harming trans-identified people. It was a supportive place where women could talk openly about their oppression, including the role that transgenderism played in that oppression. But that didn’t stop the banning.

And this is endemic of a wider issue; more and more people are finding themselves banned from social media for expressing controversial opinions. But we left-wingers stand by and let it happen. After all, only “bad” people were being censored, at first, so that was okay, right? They didn’t have anything nice to say, so they shouldn’t get to say it. And we went along with it quite happily. But that’s the problem with censorship. It’s fine until you’re the one being censored. The reality is, as long as what someone says isn’t directly harming someone, everyone should have the right to say what they like.

Why? Because it could be you. One day, you could say something completely innocuous that everyone agrees with. The next day, you could find yourself being banned, or cancelled for saying it. Everyone who censors people, or advocates for it, thinks they and their views are right. But that’s not how a free society works- there are different perspectives, not “wrong” or “right” perspectives. We must stand for this no longer. And if we can censor one view, what is to stop us from censoring other opinions? We might not support what someone says, but we should support their right to say it. Which is why we all must condemn social media censorship.

If you enjoyed this article, please consider making a donation to support the site.