<p><span>After the </span><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/how-social-media-made-the-trump-insurrection-a-reality">January 6th insurrection</a><span><span> </span>at the U.S. Capitol, several social-media companies banned a host of far-right figures, as well as<span> </span></span><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-importance-and-incoherence-of-twitters-trump-ban">President Trump</a><span>. The move provoked an outcry among conservatives, many of whom accused those companies of violating users’ First Amendment rights. The country’s ever-present disagreements over what, exactly, constitutes free speech have taken on new urgency in this era of little-regulated social media, disinformation, exhortations to violence, and so-called cancel culture.<span> </span></span><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/andrew-marantz">Andrew Marantz</a><span> joins<span> </span></span><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/dorothy-wickenden">Dorothy Wickenden</a><span><span> </span>to discuss the future of free speech in our splintered nation.</span></p>
After the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, several social-media companies banned a host of far-right figures, as well as President Trump. The move provoked an outcry among conservatives, many of whom accused those companies of violating users’ First Amendment rights. The country’s ever-present disagreements over what, exactly, constitutes free speech have taken on new urgency in this era of little-regulated social media, disinformation, exhortations to violence, and so-called cancel culture. Andrew Marantz joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss the future of free speech in our splintered nation.