The Trump administration has begun. Various moves have been made even before President Trump took office, one of which is Meta’s announcement that it will abolish fact-checking of posts on Facebook and other platforms. Media in Japan, the United States, and other parts of the world have voiced doubts that this is a compromise with President Trump, who has criticized the use of fact-checking to restrict posts. However, isn’t fact-checking essentially censorship? Moreover, it is censorship by a private company. If you stand on the side of freedom of expression, fact-checking should be strongly criticized. Although traditional media usually value freedom of expression as a golden rule and try to protect it as an absolute rule, they recommend restricting posts on SNS. Isn’t that a contradiction?

It is true that there are many problematic posts on SNS. It is not uncommon for clever false information and blatant discriminatory expressions to spread rapidly and cause a big fuss. On the other hand, the perception of what is false and what is discriminatory varies depending on one’s position, so it is very difficult to draw the line. Is it really appropriate for a private company to decide between the two and impose restrictions?
If restrictions on postings are allowed without limit, it will distort the space for free speech and stifle freedom of expression. From this perspective, restrictions on postings are a topic that requires lively debate. It should not be settled with a foregone conclusion.
The four years of the Trump administration will likely bring to light many contradictions. Restrictions on postings on social media are just one of them. A clash between liberalism and conservatism that goes beyond their limits is likely to spark contradictions. Whether liberal or conservative, if you go too far, it will lead to imperialism and make life difficult for people.
Perhaps moderation is where people will end up, beyond the quagmire of contradictions. Moderation has a dividing line between two and two, and can feel lukewarm in places, but no matter what era we live in, human society is stable when we know enough. (Kitajima Kei)

※Translating Japanese articles into English with AI