Broad protections for free speech have real costs

RECENT digital governance efforts, such as the automatic licensing of large social media platforms as Application Service Providers, are often criticised on the grounds that broad regulatory tools will inevitably lead to overreach and self-censorship.

This argument rests on the assumption that regulation itself poses a greater danger than inaction. In practice, it elevates speculative fears of overreach above the demonstrable consequences of digital deregulation: mass misinformation, coordinated manipulation and the erosion of shared reality.