‘Welcome To The Party, Zoom’: Video App’s Rules Lead To Accusations Of Censorship



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Zoom video conferences are a staple of the pandemic. Members of the Vermont House of Representatives met on Zoom in April.

Wilson Ring/AP




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Leila Khaled, activist and prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine PFLP, speaks during the congress of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, in Februrary 2018.

Burhan Ozbilici/AP


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Zoom may act like a phone company to millions, but it is not a utility. It can face criminal prosecution if it is not careful with the content it permits. But like other online platforms, Zoom is protected by law from civil lawsuits over what people say and do on its platform.

Faiza Patel with NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice says there have to be rules, since the notion of good speech being able to counter bad speech falls apart when there is just so much content. And outlandish and conspiratorial material can often overpower everything else.

«I think we’re all kind of struggling to figure out how to maneuver in this space, which is quite different than what we’ve had before,» Patel said.

Patel said tech companies’ terms of service usually espouse support for robust free speech and debate. Stopping someone from communicating to others can appear to contradict those values.

«That obviously creates a question about, ‘Well, are you really allowing the full extent of the conversation?'» Patel said.

Back at San Francisco State University, Abdulhadi is looking for an open-source alternative to Zoom that does not, as she sees it, silence political speakers.

«It’s a very serious problem to be vulnerable to the only means of communications in today’s pandemic times,» Abdulhadi said. «Because what does this really mean for the future of education? What does it mean for the future of communication?»

Editor’s note: Zoom is among NPR’s sponsors.

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