‘Welcome To The Party, Zoom’: Video App’s Rules Lead To Accusations Of Censorship – NPR
Zoom videoconferences are a staple of the coronavirus pandemic. Above, members of the Vermont House of Representatives met on Zoom in April. Wilson Ring/AP hide caption
Zoom videoconferences are a staple of the coronavirus pandemic. Above, members of the Vermont House of Representatives met on Zoom in April.
Now that the coronavirus pandemic has transformed Zoom from a corporate videoconferencing app into a ubiquitous tool for governments, schools, karaoke parties and even "Zoomsgiving" celebrations, the company is having to do the dicey work of deciding what is permitted on its platform.
And not everybody is allowed on it.
Zoom's rules say users cannot break the law, promote violence, be obscene, display nudity or support terrorism. The terms of service largely mirror those of larger tech companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google's YouTube.
And just as social media companies draw critics' ire when they flag a post or ban a user, Zoom is now being accused of censorship after refusing to host a speech by a controversial Palestinian activist. The episode is raising questions among technology experts about whether and how Zoom sessions should be regulated.
Terrorist link versus academic freedom
In September, Zoom blocked a speaking event featuring Leila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist group. Khaled, now 76 years old and living in Jordan, is notorious for hijacking a plane in 1969 and attempting to do it again a year later.
Rabab Abdulhadi, a professor at San Francisco State University's College of Ethnic Studies, planned an "open classroom" event in which Khaled was to participate.
But the night before the event, Abdulhadi received a message from the university's provost: Zoom was canceling the livestream over legal concerns.
Abdulhadi says she was told, "We might be implicated in criminal activities of material support for terrorism and that might include imprisonment and a fine."
Leila Khaled, an activist and prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, speaks during an event in February 2018. Burhan Ozbilici/AP hide caption
Leila Khaled, an activist and prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, speaks during an event in February 2018.
Abdulhadi didn't fear those consequences. She says her own lawyers had assured her that inviting Khaled to speak publicly is not tantamount to providing material support to terrorists, as broadly defined in a federal statute that prosecutors have used to arrest individuals for everything from fighting alongside terrorist groups to exchanging Twitter messages with them.
To Abdulhadi, Khaled is a feminist icon and radical nationalist whose planned talk on resistance movements had captured wide attention. Some 1,500 people had RSVP'd to tune in to the event on Zoom.
"They do not have the right to use their being a platform to veto the content of our classroom and thus actually impinge on our academic freedom," Abdulhadi said of Zoom.
Legally, Zoom cannot tell Abdulhadi what to teach. But it can decide who is and is not allowed to speak on its platform.
The Lawfare Project, a pro-Israel think tank and litigation fund, pressured Zoom to block the event, arguing that hosting Khaled was a legal liability. It organized a protest in front of Zoom's headquarters in September.
"If your interest is in having an academic discussion about controversial issues, go ahead. But that doesn't mean that you have the right to assist a designated terrorist group in carrying out their mission," Brooke Goldstein, the think tank's executive director, said.
The Lawfare Project claimed victory after Zoom shut down the event.
In a statement, a Zoom spokesperson said the San Francisco State University roundtable violated the company's terms of service because Khaled is a member of a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.
"Zoom let SFSU know that they could not use Zoom for this particular event," the spokesperson said.
The company said there were 10 subsequent events planned related to Khaled. Khaled was set to speak at three of them. Those three events were also banned from the platform.
"The other seven events did not publicize any appearance from Ms. Khaled and were therefore able to be hosted on Zoom," according to the company's statement.
Officials at Zoom say the company does not monitor the content of video chats and took action on the planned Khaled events only after being notified about them.
"What does it mean for the future of communication?"
Zoom felt similar heat this summer after it shut down meetings commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre at the request of the Chinese government. But while social media companies have long been in the middle of debates over content rules, this is a relatively new predicament for Zoom.
"Welcome to the party, Zoom," said Daphne Keller, a former Google lawyer who is now with Stanford University's Cyber Policy Center.
There is a case to be made, Keller said, that Zoom's rules of engagement should be distinct from those of Facebook or Twitter because the services function differently.
"Do we want Zoom to be the content police or the speech police? Because we're all so dependent on them," Keller said. "They are functioning in a way that for previous generations the postal service or the phone company functioned."
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 New York University'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.
Continue reading here:
'Welcome To The Party, Zoom': Video App's Rules Lead To Accusations Of Censorship - NPR
- Media Pretend That Systematic Government Censorship Is a Nothingburger - National Review - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- Jack Dorsey Backs Bitcoin And Nostr To Cut Censorship With Free Speech - Forbes - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- Half-Breed and Brown Sugar Vanished: Why Classic Artists Are Censoring Themselves - Rolling Stone - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- We are in the middle of Europe, and we are under censorship, anti-Putin filmmaker says - Semafor - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- Protecting Floridas children in the fight against censorship and the erosion of rights - Tallahassee Democrat - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- Brazil's top judge gives X until Thursday evening to comply with order or face nationwide ban - Axios - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- Durov, Musk, and Zuckerberg: Tech Oligarchs Cry Censorship and What It All Means - Just Security - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- Zuckerberg regrets bowing to government pressure on Covid-19 censorship - ZAWYA - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- Mark Zuckerbergs empty censorship apology: Letters to the Editor Aug. 30, 2024 - New York Post - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- IC 814 controversy: Kangana Ranaut slams OTT platforms over censorship bias amid stalled release of her 'E - The Economic Times - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- Meta CEO Zuckerberg admits he was part of the Biden-Harris censorship scheme. You've been warned, America - Fox News - September 2nd, 2024 [September 2nd, 2024]
- Opinion | European Censorship, Elon Musk and the Telegram Arrest - The Wall Street Journal - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Zuckerberg says Biden officials pressured Meta to censor content: What to know - The Hill - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Alex Berenson to amend suit against Biden, Pfizer after Zuckerberg admitted government pushed censorship - Fox News - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Zuckerberg's Biden-Harris censorship bombshell could be pivotal in First Amendment suit and more top headlines - Fox News - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Telegram And Youtube Censorship Show Bitcoin And Nostr Are Critical - Forbes - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Former Parler CEO reacts to news that Biden White House pressured Meta to censor Americans: 'Not surprising' - Fox Business - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Mark Zuckerberg Says Biden Administration Pressured Meta To Censor Covid Content, In Gift To House Republicans - Deadline - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Zuckerberg admits Biden admin pressured Facebook to censor COVID content, says it was wrong to suppress The Posts Hunter laptop coverage - New York... - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Yes, Mark Zuckerberg coming clean on Facebook censorship truly matters, as it cuts down Harris-Walz, experts claiming to fight misinformation - New... - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Tulsi Gabbard blasts champion of freedom Kamala Harris for her administrations record of censorship - Washington Examiner - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- In case you were wondering if the U.S. Government engages in censorship by proxy, read Zuckerberg's letter - Gript - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Mark Zuckerberg says he regrets bowing to COVID-19 censorship pressure - Cointelegraph - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Tornado Cash Is One Step Away from Full Censorship (and a Solution) - hackernoon.com - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Mark Zuckerberg: Covid censorship was wrong and I wish Id fought it - The Telegraph - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Mark Zuckerberg exposes extent of the Biden censorship campaign to control social media - Washington Times - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Mark Zuckerberg needs to spill all on how FBI censored Americans - New York Post - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- Zoya Akhtar on Censorship: 'Women Were Sexually Assaulted on Screen, But You Couldn't See a Kiss...' - News18 - August 29th, 2024 [August 29th, 2024]
- The science of Russian Internet censorship and surveillance - Meduza - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- RFK Jr. cleared to take on Biden censorship after Supreme Court punted issue - Washington Examiner - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Bitter San Francisco Officials "Joyful" That X is Leaving City: Without Censorship, It's Just Not the Same! - WebProNews - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Slap in the face Israel Censors News of Damage from Hezbollah Attacks - Palestine Chronicle - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Leave It to Beaver Went to War with Network Censors to Show a Toilet on TV - Cracked.com - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- RFK Jr.: '16 Months of Censorship' Led to Suspending Race - Newsmax - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Judge rules RFK Jr. can sue Biden administration over alleged censorship of charity that questions vaccines - MSN - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Why Project 2025 is a threat to a free media - Index on Censorship - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Are You Registered to Vote?: Book Censorship News, August 23, 2024 - Book Riot - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Censoring the Internet Wont Protect Kids - Reason - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Russian users get locked out of Telegram and WhatsApp as Moscow intensifies internet censorship - Fortune - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- The Brazilian Judiciarys Continued Censorship and the Brussels-Brasilia Effect - Cato Institute - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- FBI pins Trump hack on Iran and Musk closes X in Brazil over censorship row - TechInformed - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- X says it is closing operations in Brazil due to judge's content orders - Reuters - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Crawford County costs related to library censorship total more than $420,000 - talkbusiness.net - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Dozens of UK school librarians asked to remove LGBTQ+ books, survey finds - The Guardian - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- How censorship is breaking the internet in Pakistan - TechRadar - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Responding to Historic Book Censorship Crisis, American Booksellers Association Publishes The ABA Right to - EIN News - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- X is closing operations in Brazil due to 'censorship orders' - Mashable - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Cant Be Erased: Rallying Against Book Bans and Curriculum Censorship - The Education Trust - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- X Ceases Operations in Brazil After Refusing to Comply With Censorship Orders - Bitcoin.com News - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- IBPA and EveryLibrary Make a Play for the Freedom to Read - Publishers Weekly - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Contents The final cut: How cinema is being used to change the global narrative - Index on Censorship - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Todays Cache | How AI was used to influence U.S. elections; X combats censorship in Brazil with shutdown; Google tries to influence Pixel reviews -... - August 22nd, 2024 [August 22nd, 2024]
- Reagan star Dennis Quaid tells Joe Rogan Big Tech has been trying to censor his biopic - Fox News - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- X shuts Brazil operations over 'censorship' orders: Musk - DW (English) - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- Elon Musk got one thing very right about his X talk with Trump - MSNBC - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- Elon Musk says X will pull operations from Brazil after censorship orders - The Guardian - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- Whos for the First Amendmentand Who Isnt - Daily Signal - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- Between bigots and censors - Spiked - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- X to close operations in Brazil with immediate effect due to 'censorship orders' - India Today - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- EU is spearheading the new global Axis of Censorship - UnHerd - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- The European Commission Tries To Force Elon Musk To Censor Trump - The Federalist - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- House Oversight investigating Google and Facebook for possible censorship of Trump assassination attempt - Washington Examiner - August 18th, 2024 [August 18th, 2024]
- YouTube Russia's Window on the World Is Now Closing - Center for European Policy Analysis - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- House panel demands info from Google, Meta over alleged censorship of Trump assassination attempt - New York Post - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Signal, Instagram, and X feel the heat of censorship by authoritarian governments - Fortune - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- UK government issues warning: Think before you post - Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- The Biggest Threats to the First Amendment Are Coming From the Left - The New York Sun - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Demands More X Accounts Be Censored, Days After He's Implicated in a Scandal - The New York Sun - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- A new online hub for students looks to fight discrimination, censorship, and more in Texas - Advocate.com - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Elon Musk threatened with censorship for daring to talk to Trump: Robby Soave - The Hill - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- House GOP probes Meta, Google over Trump assassination attempt censorship - Straight Arrow News - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- U.K. Politicians Target Social Media To Deflect From Riots and Civil Unrest - Reason - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- House panel probing potential censorship of near Trump assassination - Washington Times - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- House Oversight Committee investigates Google, Meta over censorship of Trump assassination attempt - Must Read Alaska - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Oversight committee investigates alleged Google censorship of Trump shooting - Heartlander News - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- One Piece Remake Will Avoid Censorship To Be As True To The Manga As Possible - AS USA - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Capcom Defends Censorship Of Erotica Mechanic From 'Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster', Says "It Is Not An Appropriate Reward For Survival And Not A... - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Now its Democrats who want the House to investigate X for political censorship - Engadget - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Tune in Tonight: Author battles censorship in the heartland - The Republic - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- We Could See More Censorship Interfering With The 2024 Election - NewsRadio 740 KTRH - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]