The Volokh Conspiracy

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent

Crime

'We wanted a democratic internet. Here it is.'

|The Volokh Conspiracy |


The quote is from commenter Nonzenze on the Barley House gag-order thread, and I think it nicely summarizes a lot about recent controversies having to do with online libel, criticism leading to threats, the viral spread of fake news and more. Another way of thinking about it is that the Internet, like democracy itself, has the vices of its virtues.

Eugene Volokh is the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA and a Visiting Fellow (Senior Fellow starting May 2024) at the Hoover Institution (Stanford). Naturally, his posts here (like the opinions of the other bloggers) are his own, and not endorsed by any educational institution.