Where to Draw the Line on Deplatforming

As a general principle, internet service providers aren’t supposed to erect barriers between the users they serve and the websites those users want to visit. They tend to observe this rule even in places like Australia and New Zealand that don’t have net neutrality policies that prevent ISPs from blocking access to websites. An exception tends to be when those takedowns come at the behest of law enforcement, perhaps out of concern for public safety. But the telecoms companies in New Zealand and Australia didn’t decide to kick websites offline in collaboration with law enforcement. Rather, they felt that the blockages were simply the responsible thing to do. “We must find the right balance between internet freedom and the need to protect New Zealanders, especially the young and vulnerable, from harmful content,” executives from Vodafone NZ, Spark, and 2degrees wrote. What should be done about 4chan, 8chan, and other awful internet places whose ugliness spills into public view? The overly broad blocking of entire websites by internet providers, which operate at several layers above the platforms, isn’t going to make the horror disappear. It could strengthen these communities—and assign unnecessary powers to companies that no one asked to do the dirty work.