The Storming of the Capitol and the Future of Speech Online

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Social media and digital technologies have come under fire for their contribution to the development of the groups that ultimately stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6. Following the insurrection attempt, Facebook, Twitter, Google and other major platforms have banned or suspended President Trump’s accounts. Google and Apple removed Parler from their app stores, while Amazon removed the site from its cloud hosting service, putting an indefinite end to Parler’s reach. This panel will discuss the role of social media during the Trump presidency, including the role of platform policies in fomenting or responding to the recent violence, the benefits and risks posed by steps subsequently taken, and what this means for the future of speech online.

Panelists include:

• Nate Persily, faculty co-director of the Stanford Cyber Policy Center, director of the Center’s Program on Democracy and the Internet, and Professor at Stanford Law School
• Daphne Keller, Director of the Cyber Policy Center’s Program on Platform Regulation
• Alex Stamos, Director of the Cyber Policy Center’s Internet Observatory
• Renee DiResta, Research Manager at the Cyber Policy Center’s Internet Observatory
• Moderated by Kelly Born, Executive Director of the Cyber Policy Center