Governments must regulate the algorithms of social media companies to prevent harmful speech from going viral, says MIT economist and Nobel Prize winner Daron Acemoglu. The problem, he told Bloomberg, is “algorithmic feeds that essentially amplify the most incendiary material- the one that gets views because it’s extreme, that angers the other side and motivates your side to become even more vocal.”
As Shellenberger says, it is a direct violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
The US government isn’t allowed to govern speech. It’s very dangerous. Government is political and powerful. No government should have that right.
The UK has lost it, and crime is increasing as they go further left. They are actually asking new illegal migrants to please not have sex with women who don’t agree or with children. So, crime is increasing.
Anarcho Tyranny
It’s no coincidence that the Left demands censorship while enabling crime. Just yesterday, the UK Labour govt was caught giving pamphlets to illegal migrants, politely asking them not to rape, and the LA City Council legalized open-air drug encampments. It’s anarcho-tyranny. https://t.co/GK6D0AojLZ pic.twitter.com/yqhL16SyUY
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) August 20, 2026
The Back Story
Daron Acemoglu drew strong public criticism for signing an open letter titled “Against Big Tech’s Attack on Digital Sovereignties,” which supported Brazilian judicial crackdowns and restrictions on the social media platform X. Ironically, he won a Nobel Prize for his defense of free speech and democracy.
In 2024, Daron Acemoglu wrote about free speech and democracy, which we would probably all agree with. However, he has made an about-face after X became a free-speech platform.
He and other so-called liberals claim the US is now an authoritarian state because of executive orders. Biden issued lots of executive orders to control us. Trump issues them to put the people in charge of government.
Some of their views stem from arrogance. They don’t see us as intelligent enough to sort through the nonsense. In some cases, that is true, but who are these self-appointed censors to decide what we can see or not see? Certainly, government must never be in charge.
Brazil is under the leadership of authoritarians; the president is a communist, and their ideas are extreme and biased. For Daron Acemoglu to support a radical-left Brazilian justice on this issue is a stunning about-face. However, it is in keeping with EU thinking.
At the same time, Acemoglu wrote his defense of free speech in 2024, when Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes suspended X nationwide after its owner, Elon Musk, refused to comply with local court orders requiring the removal of specific user accounts and the appointment of a legal representative.
Acemoglu, Thomas Piketty and Gabriel Zucman signed an open letter defending Brazil’s actions.
Signers framed the enforcement as a defense of national democratic institutions and “digital sovereignty” against foreign technology corporations refusing to abide by local laws and tax regulations.
Critics couldn’t understand why he supported state-level coercion and content restrictions that critics classified as government censorship.
Supporters claim it’s protecting their sovereignty against foreign technological overreach.
Most or many Americans would see it as censorship. Europe is moving closer to China in censorship, the very thing Acemoglu and other intellectuals warned against.
The twist is that he won the Nobel for research on “the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity”. The letter he signed condemns @elonmusk for refusing to censor speech deemed undesirable by Brazilian authorities. So he believes that the “institution” of… https://t.co/hhKys5Duuu
— Joshua Rauh (@joshrauh) October 15, 2024