What is free speech absolutism anyway?
Complex debates about thinking together - Media Ecology Newsletter #19
Elon Musk is talking about freedom of expression. He says he's a free speech absolutist. But of course he also wisely says that Twitter will guarantee freedom of expression within the limits of the law. It's a fascinating topic. Balancing freedom of expression with privacy on the one hand and the right not to be misinformed on the other is just one aspect of the complexity of this topic. I wrote - in Italian - about this matter: Three hypotheses about Musk and Twitter.
Talking about hate speech, a very complicated topic that lies between freedom of expression and other human rights, the economist Antonio Nicita, pointed out to me that the freedom of expression that should be guaranteed to those who hate, can generate a reaction in the person who is hated, for which she withdraws from expressing herself.
We come to a conclusion: there is not a possible way to be a free speech absolutist.
OECD: Media Ecology Matters
What will Elon Musk do with Twitter if he finalizes the acquisition? Why did Sweden just create the Psychological Defence Agency? What is the relationship between information quality and financial or political stability? It is a systemic problem. Or rather: an ecosystem problem. Published by The OECD Forum
Media Ecology is the message
On April 28th, at Université de Lyon, the conference “Vivre par(mi) les écrans“.
My speech was about three interviews: Bill Gates, John Chambers, Fernand Braudel. Here are my notes for the speech.
Reading. Eric Jenkins on Facebook
Eric Jenkins, associate professor of Communication at the University of Cincinnati, is author of: “From media to machines: A machinic perspective on the evolution and crises of Facebook”, in Exploration in Media Ecology, Volume 20 Number 3, Intellect Journals, pp. 299-317
«Facebook’s megamachinic diagram thus entails taking the activity of users - acts of neo-liberal individualization - and transforming them into markets or databanks, which Deleuze calls “dividualization” (...). Whereas individuals are discrete, unitary wholes as represented by a Facebook profile, dividuals are varying and separable bodies of data that change shape depending of the modulations of practice».
Thanks for reading! I’m writing this after a few months. I hope you like this version of the newsletter with less words and more links.