Speech Police: The Global Struggle to Govern the Internet

by David Kaye Narrated by Andrew Eiden

Overview

Who polices speech online? Who is in charge?

"There is an epidemic sweeping the world," the Nigerian Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, said. "It is the epidemic of fake news. Mixed with hate speech, it is a disaster waiting to happen." Some argue that the disaster has already happened. But is the solution as simple as ridding social media of disinformation and hate speech? Who should decide whether content should be removed from platforms, or which users should be kicked off? Should governments set the rules and force the American behemoths--Facebook, YouTube and Twitter--to follow? Or should the companies be permitted to moderate their space as they see fit? David Kaye, one of the world's leading voices on human rights in the digital age, deals with these issues on a daily basis as the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression. Speech Police brings us behind the scenes, from Facebook's "mini-legislative" meetings to the European Commission's closed-door negotiations, and introduces journalists, activists, and content moderators who take down a virtual flood of photos, videos and text every day. He tells the story of people around the world who are trying to get it right while facing an almost impossible task--with massive consequences for users and the public.

Creative*Commons*cover icons (left to right) all courtesy of The Noun Project:*Talk Bubble*©*diambergerak, ID;*Ear Phones*©*Karen Tyler,*GB;*Microphone ©*John Caserta, US;*Volume*by*Krishna; Ear*© Scott Lewis, US

Editorial Reviews

NOVEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

Andrew Eiden narrates Kaye’s critical examination of censorship and the Internet. His delivery is conversational in its pacing, and his sardonic tone adds elements of sincerity to Kaye’s prose that might be missed otherwise. Kaye unpacks the problematic relationship between free speech, marginalized voices, and power in a globally connected world. As digital communications and information are being weaponized by companies, nations, and trolls, targeted governments, organizations, and individuals must determine what role censorship (of individuals, of platforms, of networks) should have in this increasingly toxic and confusing landscape. Eiden’s nuanced narration make this audiobook even more compelling. L.E. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

An essential contribution to the discussion of free speech and its online enemies.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Concise, elegant and necessary.” —Peter Pomerantsev, The American Interest

“Kaye brilliantly layers analysis of the politicization of content on platforms and the growth of efforts, mostly in Europe, to regulate these private, mostly American companies. All the while, Kaye makes sure readers are aware of the complexities and how free speech may be embattled if some of these regulations are put into effect at scale.... Insightful for readers who have tracked the history of expression on the Internet and who enjoy connecting that history to law and culture.” —Library Journal

“We’re at a critical juncture, in which the long-overdue techlash is being co-opted to put more power in the hands of Big Tech, in the guise of forcing the tech giants to take on more responsibility. Getting this right will have implications for decades. David Kaye’s book is crucial to understanding the tactics, rhetoric and stakes in one of the most consequential free speech debates in human history.” —Cory Doctorow

“Speech Police is an essential primer for understanding the toughest global governance problem of our digital age. The future of human rights and democracy depends on whether the exercise of government and private power across globally networked digital platforms can be constrained and held accountable.” —Rebecca MacKinnon, author of Consent of the Networked: The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom

“This is an important, timely, and provocative book on a hugely important topic. Everyone interested in free expression and social media should (and will) read it.” —Noah Feldman, Felix Frankfurter Professor at Harvard Law School

“David Kaye has been an outstanding UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, and in this report he pungently distils his findings on one of the most important issues of our time.” —Timothy Garton Ash, author of Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World

“In this accessible, urgent volume, Kaye takes us on a whirlwind global tour of social media’s sites of impact, from on-the-ground reports of activists in dangerous political climates to the candid conversations behind the closed doors of corporate boardrooms and the halls of government alike. His access allows us an unprecedented and often unguarded view of the players at all echelons, be they corporate scions, heads of state or rabble-rousing resistance journalists. In all cases, Kaye unveils the competing interests, hidden motivations, factions and forces influencing these platforms and introduces us to the many actors with a stake in their proliferation or restriction. All are given an unvarnished analysis by the individual charged with advancing the principles of human rights for a worldwide constituency.... A must-read for anyone invested in the issues this book touches: in other words, all of us.” —Sarah Roberts, University of California, Los Angeles

NOVEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

Andrew Eiden narrates Kaye’s critical examination of censorship and the Internet. His delivery is conversational in its pacing, and his sardonic tone adds elements of sincerity to Kaye’s prose that might be missed otherwise. Kaye unpacks the problematic relationship between free speech, marginalized voices, and power in a globally connected world. As digital communications and information are being weaponized by companies, nations, and trolls, targeted governments, organizations, and individuals must determine what role censorship (of individuals, of platforms, of networks) should have in this increasingly toxic and confusing landscape. Eiden’s nuanced narration make this audiobook even more compelling. L.E. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2019-05-19
Policing the internet is necessary, but which entity shall we entrust with doing that work?

Governments fear a decentralized internet, but individuals should be alarmed about the centralization that has been firming up, "dominated by the corporate imperatives of advertising and data mining." So writes Kaye (Law/Univ. of California, Irvine), the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, in this lucid exploration of the internet, which has become the domain of media and commercial monopolies instead of the earlier one in which numerous individual bloggers and publications were influential. Owned by Google, YouTube, for instance, has no incentive to clean up posts that fuel discord and hatred. Nor does Facebook: "There is no denying that they make a lot of money from a model that serves up video after video, or post after post, that takes one further and further away from verifiable information and toward the clickbait world of disinformation that intends to meaningfully deceive an audience." Instead, it is in the corporate interest to hide behind claims of free speech that until recently sheltered the likes of Milo Yiannopoulos and Alex Jones. Entities such as the European Union and the U.N. are now pressing companies to police such speech under penalty of heavy fines, with legitimate information at risk of being cast away along with hate speech. Kaye proposes the application of human rights law to address some of these concerns, and he advocates better transparency and accountability as well as civilian oversight and democratic governance, since "whoever is in charge will have massive power over the future of civic space and freedom of expression worldwide." Usefully, the author draws on examples from around the world, especially places where access to information is a literal matter of life and death, such as Syria and Myanmar. While corporate dominance is an undeniable threat to free speech for its own sake, he also observes, provocatively, that "fighting disinformation begins with governments telling the truth."

An essential contribution to the discussion of free speech and its online enemies.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171909468
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	06/04/2019
Series:	Columbia Global Reports
Edition description:	Unabridged

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