Overview

Concerns about censorship have once again reached a fever pitch across the liberal West. In other historical periods, such concerns may have marked reactions to book bans and burnings. Often, they followed prosecutions and subsequent jailtime for things spoken or written. During the Red Scare, they were the hushed response to chilling state-sponsored watch-lists and employer-supported blacklists designed to ensure victory against communism. Against this history, complaints about the new censorship appear differently. With respect to the new censorship, there are no books burnings, no prosecutions, no laws or committees. Indeed, there is no coercive state involvement at all. With a few notable exceptions, complaints about censorship in the 21st-century West are complaints about the behavior of private parties: social groups, employers, media conglomerates, social media platforms, and search engines. To better understand the concerns surrounding nonstate interference with speech, Private Censorship offers an account of censorship, as well as an assessment of the ethical and political issues it raises across contexts. J.P. Messina asks and variously answers questions like: what should we think when employees get fired for things they say and how might patterns of such firings create a climate of fear inimical to free inquiry? When is it appropriate for social media firms to deplatform users, and what does it mean for our democracy that those in charge of such decisions are often wealthy Silicon Valley executives? Do search engines act as massive gatekeepers to information in troubling ways, and how might they be constrained, if they do? Along the way, Messina casts a critical eye on many popular proposals for responding to these complaints. Unlike these popular approaches, Private Censorship foregrounds the importance of rights to property, association, and free expression for thinking well about 21st-century censorship concerns.

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9780197581902

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Reviews

J.P. Messina's Private Censorship is the rare book that's both a groundbreaking work of scholarship and a genuine page-turner. Deftly weaving together insights from history, philosophy, psychology, and economics, Messina resists the easy answers that tempt partisans but do little to satisfactorily address the hard questions about censorship by non-state actors. Not only does this book offer wise and nuanced advice for policymakers, it will help you level up your own contribution to public discourse. Read it and become a better citizen. * Chris Freiman, William & Mary * In this valuable new book, J. P. Messina examines choices made by private actors that shape the contemporary speech environment. He deftly illuminates the tensions between freedom of speech and other personal liberties, such as our right to disassociate from those who engage in problematic speech. Messina's argument against using the state to resolve these tensions must be taken seriously by those, from both the left and the right, who hope to remedy the many ills affecting civil discourse. * Linda Radzik, author of The Ethics of Social Punishment * As concerns about censorship focus increasingly on private, non-governmental powers, Messina's Private Censorship is essential reading. Recognizing the potential dangers of both unfettered speech and speech restrictions alike, Messina encourages us to foster a culture that is conducive to free speech and democratic values while also protecting a diverse and independent private sphere. This readable and timely book will enhance the ongoing public debates about these critical issues. * Nadine Strossen, author of Free Speech: What Everyone Needs to Know *

Author Information

J.P. Messina is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at Purdue University where he teaches classes in political philosophy, data ethics, and the history of moral and political thought. Before joining the faculty at Purdue, he held research positions at the University of New Orleans and Wellesley College and received his Ph.D. from UC San Diego in 2018. Messina's work asks questions about human freedom across philosophical contexts and has appeared in a number of scholarly venues, including: Philosophers' Imprint, The Canadian Journal of Philosophy, the Journal of Applied Ethics, Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, Kantian Review, and The British Journal for the History of Philosophy.

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