The Weaponized Word

It depends. Like malware, viruses, network intrusions or DDoS attacks, discriminatory content jeopardize the health and security of communities. While we should all aspire to the highest bar when protecting freedom of expression, content which targets users based on their ethnic, sexual or religious identity, or which silences marginalized voices by punitively degrading conversations, should be considered unacceptable in any forum. Ecosystems which allow hate speech and disinformation to thrive often end up paying a steep price for their defense of white supremacists, Holocaust deniers, conspiracy theorists and other toxic users; their platforms drive away legitimate users, alienate advertisers, and incur penalties from regulatory bodies in the countries where they operate.