I asked University of Cape Town's Jacques Rousseau (lecturer in critical thinking and ethics) to help me puzzle through the latest instantiation of the free speech debate. It's been sparked by the news that Elon Musk, who describes himself as a free speech absolutist (whatever that means), is buying Twitter.
The difficulties are several: at a theoretical or principled level, what kinds of speech acts (if any) should be barred? And, related, how feasible is online policing of content anyway (assuming we can even make headway in defining what counts as 'harm', 'violence' etc.)
There are a myriad complexities here. Dig in. Share the podcast. And debate it with your family, friends and colleagues.
For more of Jacques' work visit his blog which you can find at www.synapses.co.za