On Friday, 50 innocent worshippers were brutally slaughtered in Christchurch, New Zealand. Today, the reaction to the gunman’s video livestreaming of that attack reminds us why the First Amendment is so important.

After all, the gunman’s Facebook livestreaming of his massacre has sparked renewed calls for censorship constraints on social media companies such as Facebook and YouTube. The problem is that this censorship agenda offers a very slippery path to global authoritarianism.

Recommended Stories

UK censorship firestorm spotlights Washington’s fight over social media

Columbia’s protest response rebuked by all sides over free speech and public safety concerns

Facebook doesn’t have to be a forum for open speech, but it should be