Content moderation and its dis-content-moderators (with Ada Palmer)
Spencer Greenberg speaks with Ada Palmer, a historian, about how information revolutions, from print to digital, share common patterns like the rise of fringe voices and subsequent calls for censorship. They discuss how real censorship often stems from good intentions, the dangers of monopolies, and the importance of plural communication channels.
Deep Dive Analysis
19 Topic Outline
Understanding Current Information Revolutions Through History
Past Information Revolutions and Their Sub-Revolutions
Common Facets of Information Revolutions: Distribution and Control
The Early Adopter Effect: Amplifying Fringe Voices
Censorship: Intentions, Perceptions, and Real-World Function
The Inquisition's Motives and Methods of Censorship
Australia's Internet Censorship Board Example
Censorship as an Inherent Element of Society
The Role of Plural Avenues in Mitigating Censorship
Self-Censorship as a Primary Goal of Authority
The Inquisition's Focus on Pious Deviations, Not Atheism
Trade-offs and Challenges of Censorship: Silence vs. Dialogue
AI Censorship: New Threats and Loss of Human Permeability
Common Misunderstandings About History
Norse Mythology and the Question of Good
Dystopian vs. Utopian Stories: Optimism and Hard Work
Understanding Plural Agency in Historical Change
Speculative Resistance: Countries Competing for Citizens
The Fish Tank Analogy for Environmental Understanding
6 Key Concepts
Information Revolution
A period marked by the arrival of a disruptive information technology that significantly accelerates information movement and democratizes access. These revolutions often initially lack established control mechanisms, leading to societal scrambling to adapt.
Early Adopter Effect
This phenomenon describes how the first individuals or groups to adopt a new information technology are typically those who were previously silenced or marginalized. Consequently, new mediums initially amplify radical, fringe, or uncomfortable voices from both the left and right.
Expurgation (Inquisition Context)
A specific censorship method used by the Inquisition where particular sentences or paragraphs in a book were physically blacked out or removed. This practice aimed to serve as a didactic exercise, constantly reminding readers of forbidden ideas rather than merely destroying information.
Self-Censorship
The primary goal of many censorship efforts, where authorities aim to cultivate fear and intimidation among individuals. This leads people to voluntarily refrain from producing, expressing, or consuming certain content to avoid potential repercussions.
Plural Agency
This concept posits that historical events and achievements are the result of the combined actions of many different people, rather than solely 'great men' or inevitable 'great forces'. These actions, sometimes sequential or unintentional, collectively shape outcomes, highlighting that everyone has some power, but no one has total control.
Speculative Resistance
A concept in speculative fiction that involves imagining alternative political or societal systems. By comparing these fictional models to real-world politics, it encourages critical thinking and re-evaluation of existing relationships between citizens and government.
12 Questions Answered
The current digital information revolution shares patterns with past revolutions (e.g., printing press, radio) by introducing disruptive technology that accelerates information flow, democratizes access, and initially lacks established control mechanisms.
An information revolution involves a new, faster, or cheaper way of distributing or reproducing information that lacks existing control and surveillance apparatuses, leading to a period of rapid change and often fear-driven calls for censorship.
New technologies are first adopted by those silenced under old systems, including fringe or radical groups, leading to an initial magnification of voices that make the established community uncomfortable.
Most real censors believe they are doing good and protecting people, even when their actions are harmful or exceed their mandate, making intentions an unreliable guide for identifying problematic censorship.
Censorship is an inherent part of all human cultures, akin to an element like arsenic; the goal should not be to eliminate it entirely, but to manage its concentration and toxicity, and to ensure plural avenues of expression exist.
The Inquisition focused on protecting 'vulnerable' pious individuals from subtle theological errors that could lead them to hell, viewing those already far gone (like atheists) as beyond saving and thus less of a priority.
AI censorship poses a significant threat because it removes the 'human permeability' of past censorship systems, where individual human censors might intentionally let certain content slide due to sympathy or changing views.
Many people believe historical knowledge is far more complete and stable than it is, underestimating the vast amount of untranslated material, ongoing discoveries, and the frequent re-evaluation of past events.
Dystopias are often fundamentally optimistic, allowing for cathartic revolutions against exaggerated societal problems, whereas truly hopeful futures (hope punk) depict a complex, unfinished project where progress requires continuous hard work without a definitive 'happy ending'.
Plural agency recognizes that historical change and achievements result from the combined, often sequential and unintended, actions of many individuals, rather than single heroes or inevitable forces; more stories about it can combat feelings of powerlessness and the appeal of conspiracy theories.
If citizens could easily change their citizenship (e.g., due to advanced transit), governments would become more accountable, as they would need to compete to attract and retain citizens by aligning with their values and policies, or risk losing revenue and influence.
Maintaining a fish tank teaches an understanding of ecosystems as fragile, interconnected balances where one change can have cascading effects, thereby fostering a more prudent and holistic approach to environmental legislation on a larger scale.
22 Actionable Insights
1. Foster Plural Expression Avenues
The most effective way to manage censorship is to ensure there are many diverse channels for communication and expression. This allows people to circumnavigate any single arena that might be co-opted or censored.
2. Avoid Broad Censorship Power
Do not create broad apparatuses for censorship, as they almost always exceed their intended scope and censor far more than initially mandated. This power, once established, is difficult to contain.
3. Judge Censorship by Impact
When evaluating censorship, focus on its actual impact and consequences rather than the perceived good intentions of the censor. Relying solely on intent prevents self-correction from harmful actions.
4. Recognize Censors’ Good Intentions
Understand that individuals engaging in censorship rarely see themselves as malicious; they often believe they are acting with good intentions to protect people or society. This makes it harder to identify and challenge harmful censorship.
5. Combat Monopolies for Free Expression
Recognize that monopolies, especially in information distribution, pose a significant threat to free expression. Diversifying communication channels helps prevent single entities from controlling what can be said.
6. Engage Harmful Ideas with Dialogue
Instead of creating silence, engage with potentially harmful ideas through intelligent and complex dialogue. This allows for critical evaluation and discussion, leading to the eventual triumph of sensible ideas.
7. Censorship Cultivates Self-Censorship
Realize that the primary goal of censorship is often not to destroy existing information, but to intimidate and cultivate self-censorship among authors and readers. This influences what people choose to write or read.
8. Monitor & Expose Censorship
Be vigilant in identifying and calling out instances of censorship when they occur. Simultaneously, work to create and support multiple communication channels to prevent any single censorious body from monopolizing information flow.
9. Avoid Silence, Foster Dialogue
Do not create silence around controversial topics, as this harms both good and bad ideas. Instead, foster intelligent and complex dialogue, which generally allows sensible and right ideas to eventually prevail.
10. Human Oversight for AI Censorship
To address the threat of AI censorship, introduce human oversight to double-check automated decisions and ensure there are multiple, diverse AI systems that operate differently across various platforms.
11. Anticipate Fringe Magnification
When a new information platform emerges, expect radical or fringe voices to be among the first adopters and become magnified. This is a recurring pattern because these groups were often silenced on older platforms.
12. Prepare for Censorship Calls
Recognize that the magnification of fringe voices on new platforms will inevitably lead to public fear and subsequent calls for censorship of that new medium. This is a predictable cycle in information revolutions.
13. Study Past Info Revolutions
To better understand and navigate current information revolutions, examine historical parallels. This provides context for phenomena like censorship calls and the amplification of fringe voices, allowing for more informed responses.
14. Recognize Distributed Power
Understand that in real-world scenarios, power is distributed; no single individual or entity holds absolute control, and everyone possesses some degree of influence. This perspective counters feelings of powerlessness and conspiracy theories.
15. Embrace Plural Agency in History
Move beyond “great man” or “great forces” narratives to understand that historical progress and events are often the result of many different people acting together, sequentially, or apart, each contributing to the outcome.
16. Acknowledge History’s Incompleteness
Understand that historical knowledge is far from complete, with millions of untranslated manuscripts and frequent new discoveries. Professional historians recognize the vastness of what remains unknown.
17. Maintain Fish Tank for Ecosystem Insight
Maintain a fish tank to gain a practical understanding of how ecosystems function as complex, fragile balances. This hands-on experience can foster a more prudent approach to environmental policy and interventions.
18. Consider Citizenship Buyer’s Market
Imagine a future where citizens choose their country, forcing governments to compete for residents and be more accountable. This speculative exercise can inspire new ways of thinking about the relationship between citizens and government.
19. Modern Dystopias Are Optimistic
Understand that contemporary dystopias often function as an optimistic genre, allowing for cathartic revolutions and affirming the possibility of overthrowing oppressive systems, even in dire circumstances.
20. Embrace Hope Punk Futures
Consider “hope punk” narratives that depict futures where progress is made but continuous effort is still required. This perspective encourages acceptance that societal improvements are an ongoing, unfinished project, rather than seeking a definitive “happy ending.”
21. Beware AI Filter Bias
Recognize that AI-driven filters, such as those for copyright, often disproportionately affect legitimate users while failing to stop large-scale bad actors. This highlights their inherent limitations and potential for misapplication.
22. Question Origin of Good
Reflect on the Norse mythological perspective that goodness and survival are exceptions in a fundamentally harsh universe, requiring constant effort to create and maintain. This offers an “upside down approach to the question of ethics.”
6 Key Quotes
The first adopters are the people who were being silenced under the old platform and weren't able to reach out to each other.
Ada Palmer
Almost never do real censors feel like that, even when they're doing abominable things. When you actually read their first-person comments, they're always, you know, oh, we're trying so hard to do good. We're trying so hard to protect people.
Ada Palmer
We have no cases of human societies without censorship. We have no cases. The very earliest documents that survive from both China and ancient Greece have Plato censoring Homer, have Confucians censoring rival Confucians. Censorship is as old as literature.
Ada Palmer
Dystopia these days is a fundamentally optimistic genre.
Ada Palmer
The world will be better. It'll be 30% better. It'll be better at 10 of the things you care about, but not at the other 10 things that you care about. And we'll still be having to work hard.
Ada Palmer
Everybody has some power. Nobody has no power and nobody has 100% of power. No one even has more than 50% of power. Not the king, not the president, no one. Everybody has some power and it's plural.
Ada Palmer