No platform

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'''No platform''' is the practice of preventing someone — either through policy or through protest — from spreading their ideas through a particular event or website. The term generally applies to rescinding an invitation to someone asked to speak at an event (such as a guest lecture at a college). The concept apparently originates from a policy used by the British National Union of Students to prevent people they disagree with from giving speeches on [[UK]] tertiary campuses.

The idea is similar to the political action of '''''cordon sanitaire''''', where a politician or political party is either unconditionally excluded from coalitions or other forms or cooperation, or even completely ignored. "No platform" is typically invoked for issues such as [[racism]], [[sexism]], [[homophobia]], [[Holocaust denial]], and so forth. As what societies find acceptable or unacceptable changes over time, so do the targets of "no platform", with 2015 seeing protests against speakers seen as [[transphobic]] or [[Islamophobic]] who consider themselves [[progressive]] as they are [[feminist]]s or [[atheist]]s, respectively. No-platforming is, at best, an attempt to prevent a [[balance fallacy]], with protesters refusing to allow tacit endorsement of [[reactionary]] views.

Depending on the circumstances, the tactic can become controversial, and has been compared to [[book burning]].<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/02/joan-bakewell-no-platforming-universities Joan Bakewell: no-platforming is a step towards book burning]</ref> Ignoring a person (or group) also means that no one is directly refuting their arguments. Some have criticized no-platforming as a form of [[censorship]] and a violation of the principles of [[freedom of speech]] and of [[critical thinking]]. The [[Foundation for Individual Rights in Education]] maintains a database of hundreds of incidents<ref>[https://www.thefire.org/how-to-use-the-disinvitation-database/ User's Guide to FIRE's Disinvitation Database By FIRE June 9, 2016]</ref> in which invited speakers have been no-platformed on college campuses, showing that the phenomenon has been "steadily increasing over the past 15 years" and is used more often by left-wingers than right wingers.<ref>As of 2016-10-15, sorted by "From Right or Left of Speaker", there are 188 "From the left", 102 "From the right", and 29 "N/A"</ref>

Advocates of no-platforming counter that protesters and venue holders have already heard the speaker's message, and they have decided not to extend the speaker's [[Freedom of speech#Right to be heard|right to an audience]] that has already rejected them. The protests generally aim to raise awareness of the target's views rather than to place a blanket ban on them; the reaction from many protested is arguably censorial itself, considering they're refusing to acknowledge the right to demonstrate opposition to their views.<ref>Margaret Barthel, [http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/the-loudly-protesting-controversy-starting-disillusioned-class-of-2014/372863/ "If Colleges Can't Handle Protests, Who Can?"], ''The Atlantic'', June 16, 2014.</ref> Apparently, both sides [[Animal Farm|believe that their speech is more free than others']].

==Freedom of speech concerns==
[[File:Free_speech.png|thumb|left|270px|''[[xkcd]]'' on free speech.]]
"No platforming" as adopted so far is not a violation of freedom of expression rights; there is no right to have a ready audience. Individuals do not have a right to speak wherever and whenever they want. For instance, newspapers are not obligated to publish every, or any, letter to the editor they receive. 

In most liberal [[democracies]], the right to publish your own newspaper, and the right to speak in a public space where speaking is permitted, are inalienable. However, private venue holders themselves also have the right to free speech and to exercise it by not promoting speech they dislike, something which is continually ignored by the people who complain about not being heard. Further, at public universities, student groups and academic departments are under no obligation to provide a platform for any particular viewpoint. Too many don't understand that their voices ''have'' been heard, but that other rights-bearing people have just decided ''not to give them the time of day''. 

An unfortunate result of "No platforming" is even more contentious debate over what exactly constitutes [[hate speech]], and whether or not it counts as free speech. There is a contingent of people online (and sometimes even offline!), usually right-wing types and [[4chan]]-style [[troll]]s (though some are, indeed, [[Poe's Law|genuine]]), who are dead set on trying to [[hand-wave]] their racism, homophobia, sexism, Islamophobia, [[xenophobia]], etc. as "Not actually hate speech", rallying behind mischaracterizations of "no platforming" as censorship to bolster their arguments.{{fact}}  

Definitions of what constitutes hate speech have expanded in recent years; this has had the effect of making people with [[transphobic]] stances (e.g. [[Germaine Greer]]<ref>Zoe Williams, [http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/25/germaine-greer-prejudice-trans-people "Silencing Germaine Greer will let prejudice against trans people flourish"], ''The Guardian'', October 25, 2015</ref>) or who allegedly express [[Islamophobia|Islamophobic]] ideas (e.g. [[Maryam Namazie]]<ref>Richard Adams, [http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/sep/26/student-union-blocks-speech-activist-maryam-namazie-warwick "Student union blocks speech by 'inflammatory' anti-sharia activist"] ''The Guardian'', September 26, 2015</ref>) targets for protests. These experiences ruffle the feathers of those whose approach to liberalism is out of step with the current mood of campus activists, which has led to a proliferation of editorials attacking millennials for being "coddled" in "[[safe space]]s" or accusing them of being "anti-democratic" and "censorial".<ref>Julia Serano, [https://medium.com/@juliaserano/how-to-write-a-political-correctness-run-amok-article-9b828d443018 "How to Write a “Political Correctness Run Amok” Article"], ''Medium'', November 11, 2015</ref> Observe how [[Milo Yiannopoulos]], no stranger to firestorms such as [[Gamergate]], and having coordinated an online harassment against Leslie Jones,<ref>Anna Silman, [https://www.thecut.com/2016/08/a-timeline-of-leslie-joness-horrific-online-abuse.html "A Timeline of Leslie Jones’s Horrific Online Abuse"] ''The Cut'', August 24, 2016</ref> was given a chance to speak at DePaul University as part of his "Dangerous Faggot" tour, but when the event actually went forth, he was driven out by the students and security was forbidden from helping him, as school officials were well aware of his history.<ref>Kasia Kovacs, [https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/10/21/several-universities-cancel-appearances-conservative-writer-milo-yiannopoulos "Inflammatory and Turned Away"] ''Inside Higher Ed'', October 21, 2016</ref> When he was actually given the opportunity to speak unmolested at the University of Milwaukee, he singled out and harassed a trans student using her name and photo,<ref>Claire Landsbaum, [https://www.thecut.com/2016/12/milo-yiannopoulos-harassed-a-trans-student-at-uw-milwaukee.html "Alt-Right Troll Milo Yiannopoulos Uses Campus Visit to Openly Mock a Transgender Student"] ''The Cut'', December 15, 2016</ref> thereby justifying his treatment at DePaul. He was later given an opportunity to speak at Berkeley under the dubious name of the "Free Speech Week", but was again shut down by student rioting due to his former abuse of his platform.<ref>Susan Svrluga, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/09/23/uc-berkeley-says-free-speech-week-is-canceled-milo-yiannopoulos-says-hes-still-coming-to-campus "UC-Berkeley says ‘Free Speech Week’ is canceled. Milo Yiannopoulos says he’s coming anyway."] ''The Washington post'' September 23, 2017</ref> He often characterized such backlashes as not being a chance to be heard and that [[Just asking questions|if someone can change his mind]] then he'll tone it down,<ref group=note>Of course, one should be aware that [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/steven-crowders-change-my-mind-campus-sign if someone is outright challenging you to attempt to change their mind], they are effectively turning any attempt to do so into a "contest" where one person "wins" and the other person "loses". Anyone who would frame 
a [[debate]]
 an exchange of opinions in such [[Game theory#Zero-sum game|zero-sum terms]] is implicitly declaring "[[Cognitive dissonance|As far as I'm concerned, my opinion is synonymous with reality]], [[Willful ignorance|and I will never, ''ever'' change it under <i><b>any</b></i> circumstances]]." This is ''not'' a flat guarantee that the person asking you to change their mind is a belligerent jerk — it is entirely possible that they are a [[skeptic]] or someone doubting their [[worldview]] who is making a poorly-worded yet honest request for you to show them [[evidence]] that can challenge their knowledge and beliefs. Thus, you should pay attention to your challenger's overall personality to know if it's worth debating them.</ref> blatantly ignoring his inflammatory nature, with the added unpleasant implication that if someone cannot change his mind for whatever reason, then it's his opponents' fault and he'll go on with his hate speech without a care in the world.<ref>German Lopez, [https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/20/14673036/milo-yiannopoulos-cpac-pedophilia-tape "The fall of Milo Yiannopoulos, explained"] ''Vox'', February 21, 2017</ref> It wasn't until he was found to have made remarks supporting [[pedophilia]] that he was barred from CPAC and resigned from Breitbart in disgrace.<ref>Rebecca Hersher, [https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/21/516473521/after-comments-on-pedophilia-breitbart-editor-milo-yiannopoulos-resigns "After Comments On Pedophilia, Breitbart Editor Milo Yiannopoulos Resigns"] ''NPR'', Feburary 21, 2017</ref>

Ironically enough (or not so unironically), it's not hard to find the same people who create narratives of triggered college kids whining whenever they're called out on their bigotry. [[Trump]]'s campaign ran on the premise that he was not afraid to tell it like it is whenever he made racist and sexist remarks, yet as soon as [[Hillary Clinton]] referred to these same people who ate up his hateful rhetoric as "deplorables", they were quick to jump on her for being intolerant, and after she lost the election, suggested she [[Kinder, Küche, Kirche|take up knitting]]. All the while, 45 was quick to constantly make inflammatory remarks about her on Twitter despite having won the election, and none of his followers batted an eye. 

{{clear}}

==Effectiveness==
{{cquote|What an extremist needs more than anything else is an enemy|||Alex Grobman<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrMQpeWmDXA Michael Shermer & Alex Grobman: Denying History] [YouTube]</ref>}}

In 1994, some university papers decided to run Bradley Smith's advertisement promoting Holocaust denialism, but printed a refutation on the opposition page.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRrP7AevKi4 HOLOCAUST - Gas Chamber Deniers on 'Donahue' Show 1994 (David Cole & Bradley Smith)] [YouTube]</ref> This was somewhat controversial, but is quite probably a more effective way to refute Holocaust denialists than ignoring them and hoping they go away. As mentioned in the free speech section above, these people ''will'' get their message out, and people uninformed of the refutations ''will'' be convinced by this. There is a caveat to refutations, however: the [[backfire effect]], which would strengthen problematic viewpoints if they were challenged, which is among the reasons deplatforming is supported.

In a similar vein, some have also argued that it can lead to ''more'' extremism. For example, during the 1980s and 1990s, {{wpl|Hans Janmaat}} had a seat in the [[Dutch]] parliament, but was excluded from most public discourse by ''cordon sanitaire'' in both parliament and the media due to his views on immigration (which weren't even ''that'' extreme, certainly not by today's standards). Parliament members would just get up and leave whenever he spoke. This, in part, led to the rise of {{wpl|Pim Fortuyn}} in the early 2000s, who was significantly more vocal on these issues than Janmaat was, and later [[Geert Wilders]] in the mid 2000s, who was even ''more'' extreme.

==National Union of Students==
The British {{wpl|National Union of Students (United Kingdom)|National Union of Students}} has an {{wpl|NUS No Platform Policy|officially drafted policy}} on no platforming, which is explicitly meant to prevent far-right speakers (defined as racists, [[Fascism|fascists]], and [[Anti-Semitism|antisemites]]) from being allowed an audience at British universities in order to refuse to give their political stances credence and possibly endanger the lives of students. They also detail how this is not a restriction on anyone's freedom of speech, as the student unions are democratically deciding who they want to be allowed to talk on campus, and this in no way impinges on their ability to speak their mind elsewhere.<ref>[http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/strong-students-unions/faith-and-belief/external-speakers-guidance "External Speakers Guidance"], ''National Union of Students''</ref> 

As of September 2014, the NUS had a blanket ban on only 5 organizations:<ref>[http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/resources/no-platform-policy-last-updated-september-2014 "No Platform Policy Last updated September 2014"], ''National Union of Students''</ref> the terrorist group [[Al-Muhajiroun]], the racist [[British National Party]] and [[English Defence League]], the Islamist pro-[[Caliphate]] organization [[Hizb ut-Tahrir]], and the anti-Semitic Muslim Public Affairs Committee. The NUS enforces this by not funding speeches by these groups and not allowing their officers to share a stage with members of these groups. Individual colleges' student unions can decide to ban other speakers should they wish with internal votes.

==See also==
*[[Cancel culture]]
*[[Paradox of tolerance]] - frequently used as justification for deplatforming
*[[Streisand effect]]
*[[Sealioning]]

== External links ==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leX541Dr2rU&t=46m28s Tom Scott on free speech and deplatforming (at 46 minutes and 28 seconds)]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Social justice]]
[[Category:Politics]]
[[Category:Freedom of speech]]

Categories: Social justice, Politics, Freedom of speech