Fools should be silenced
On reply guys, foreign influence campaigns, and what Ben Franklin would say about using the block button on social media
Every civilization defines itself at least somewhat through the customs and rules by which the people abide. Early on in the formation of the American culture as a unique identity, Benjamin Franklin offered this advice: "It is ill-manners to silence a fool, and cruelty to let him go on."
■ The tension between freedom of expression and the need to control for quality isn't an easy one. Internet culture in particular dictates that we often have no choice but to let any given fool go on.
■ A friend might pull the fool aside and tell them to shut up; on social media it is all too often the angry reply that keeps some people going. "Poasters", "reply guys", and common loudmouths who used to just spout off from the corner of a bar take advantage of the deeply addictive nature of our interactive tools to stoke reactions from the wise and foolish alike.
■ That all would be bad enough on its own, but it is worse when we are under relentless attack by agitation propagandists: People using the unmediated attention people pay to the zeitgeist in order to get them angry about all the wrong things in service of sinister ends.
■ It's become a cornerstone of malignant foreign influence campaigns targeting the United States, and there are plenty of domestic voices who behave badly for their own self-interest. Contrary to what Elon Musk thinks, silence is sometimes golden.
■ We might be inclined to think that the most American thing to do is to consider all free speech equally good -- not as a matter of law, but as a matter of culture. But if Ben Franklin is right, it's even more American to use the non-coercive tools at our disposal (influence, attention, and the "mute" buttons, for starters) to silence fools before they go on.
