Free Speech Puts U.S. on ‘a Collision Course’ With Global Limits on Big Tech

When Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook called for regulating harmful internet content in an op-ed, Republicans in Washington expressed outrage that he was calling on the government to regulate speech. Within hours, the company’s top lobbyists started spreading another message to conservatives: Don’t take his suggestion too seriously. The operatives said Zuckerberg was not encouraging new limits on speech in the United States. His target was mostly overseas regulators, they said, and he has other ideas for Washington. Zuckerberg’s call for action, and his lobbyists’ response, encapsulate why the United States is on an island of its own when it comes to managing violent and racist speech online. Britain, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and India have adopted or are considering laws that require stricter content moderation by tech platforms. But none of them need to work around free speech protections like the First Amendment in the United States. For tech businesses like Facebook, that means navigating fraught political terrain — and trying to play on both sides of the issue.