Free speech needs saving from itself

摘要

"THE remedy is more speech, not enforced silence," wrote US Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis in 1927 defending freedom of speech. Ninety years on, his position is often taken as read: in the marketplace of ideas, the truth will out. So it's no surprise that many were aghast when Germany's justice minister introduced a draft law on 14 March that would lead to social media firms, including Facebook and Twitter, being fined up to €50 million if they failed to remove hate speech within 24 hours of a complaint.