Coop Scoop: (Resend) Author Eric Berkowitz on Censorship, Fake News, Cancel Culture and Free Speech

VIDEO conversation. Eric is the author of Dangerous Ideas: A Brief History of Censorship

Issue #76

May 27, 2021

By Marc Cooper

Never in recent history have the issues of free speech, open political debate and, for that matter, censorship been more timely than now.

A former president used social media to convince half the electorate of a Big Lie and though Trump has been cancelled for the time being on Facebook and Twitter, the lie still persists. What should social media do about the insurgent Right and what should we do about social media?

The Trump case is but one example of how we are plagued on a daily basis with questions of what to do, if anything, about runaway social media, what to do about reporters, writers and professors being cancelled by news organizations, universities and Twitter mobs and when is censorship legitimate.

Also, does censorship really work?

We are confronted with a bizarre spectacle as censorious rightists come out as supposed defenders of Free Speech and as opponents of Cancel Culture. Do they have a point or are they simple hypocrites?

Among some sectors on the left, just as unusually, we see some hesitancy to endorse free speech. And in some cases we see liberals acting as the censor in what is a historic role reversal. To what does that owe and and what significance does it have?

Where is the line between sensitivity to others and muffling speech? To help sort this out, I am pleased to present this one hour interview/discussion with writer Eric Berkowitz, author of the just published Dangerous Idea: A Brief History of Censorship in the West From the Ancients to Fake News.

Please take the time to listen to the whole thing even if it is in bits and pieces as it is totally worthwhile.

Eric Berkowitz is a writer, lawyer, and journalist. Before devoting his practice to public interest and asylum law, he practiced, media, intellectual property and business litigation in Los Angeles. Berkowitz has published widely throughout his career, and his writing has appeared in periodicals such as The New York Times, the Washington Post, The Economist, the Los Angeles Times, and LA Weekly. His previous books include Sex and Punishment and The Boundaries of Desire. He lives in San Francisco.

You can find his new book as well as previously published work here.

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