Seth Dillon was good enough to tag David French with a thread that was written about the conservative-ist conservative around not long ago but we believe before he joined the New York Times. Seems the original writer, James R. Lawrence III was somewhat confused about French’s ‘shrug-your-shoulders’ reaction to Big Tech censoring conservatives on social media.
Great thread. Would be interesting to hear @DavidAFrench's response. https://t.co/GJ6WJiFrnV
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) February 13, 2023
Yeah, we’d be curious to see David’s response as well.
And we love that he actually tagged French … we’d be surprised if French responds though.
The thread is pretty painful.
1/ @DavidAFrench’s #TwitterFiles thread is emblematic of his shrug-your-shoulders approach to the law of Big Tech censorship.
French’s legal views on Silicon Valley are in tension with his prior positions, including with a 2005 book he co-authored while at @TheFIREorg. https://t.co/PCYgx35bfB
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
A lot of French’s current views are in ‘tension’ with his past views.
You know, when he was actually a conservative and not just a self-hating conservative that progressives love to pretend is a real conservative.
2/ French says the #TwitterFiles show “pervasive jawboning”—“government efforts to convince or cajole private actors to change their behavior”— but that analysis of the files “contains…little nuance.” French then invites us to consider the government speech doctrine.
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
We remember this.
It was almost as if French was defending what the government did.
3a/ Set aside the point that French’s critiques of efforts to keep gender identity education out of K-3rd grade classrooms sometimes lack “nuance.” Here, for example, he flatly asserts those efforts show “[t]he American right has lost the plot on free speech.” pic.twitter.com/AlqfBO4gNe
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
Recommended
There’s a reason The New York Times picked him up.
Just sayin’.
3b/ The federal government doesn’t have a general police power.
By what statutory authority are federal officials acting when they voice their displeasure to Big Tech about Americans’ speech?
French doesn’t ask or answer that question in this particular meditation.
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
We’re shocked.
3c/ For someone whose “general view is the government should take its hands off of social media companies,” and “want[s] the government kept in its cage” on speech, one might expect French to be more troubled by what’s in the #TwitterFiles, which show a “hands on” government. pic.twitter.com/N4HnnMXozR
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
This was before he found playing the part of the apologetic, self-loathing conservative was far more popular … and even lucrative.
4a/ French does not comment on other #TwitterFiles reporting showing the platform engaged in questionable moderation practices, including by banning accounts for alleged rules violations the platform internally concluded were invalid.
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
4b/ That silence is not surprising given French’s general position on Big Tech censorship. In French’s view, “[t]here's something grossly entitled about claiming you should have government-mandated access to a social media platform you didn't create.” pic.twitter.com/DiUuVLqmRv
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
Yes, it’s super entitled to not expect your own government to censor TF out of you.
4c/ French argued in 2019 that we are not to “presume bad faith,” or reach for legal solutions, but rather try to persuade Big Tech and consumers.
Just one more think piece in @TheAtlantic. Just one more appearance on @Morning_Joe. Maybe *then* Silicon Valley will understand. pic.twitter.com/6rXjVrOZ2r
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Pandering to the very people who hate everything he used to stand for.
4d/ When Harmeet Dhillon (@pnjaban) argued that Big Tech companies “lie to consumers” by violating established legal doctrines, French responded that he’s “quite educated on the legal issues.”
He was right about that. pic.twitter.com/0GB4BRTthr
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
5a/ When he was at @TheFIREorg, French fought for free speech on college campuses.
Private schools are not bound by the First Amendment. Did French tell students subject to private school speech codes they had no legal recourse and to just try to persuade the censors?
No.
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
Of course not.
He was playing a different part then.
5b/ In a 2005 book he co-authored, French raised legal (not just moral) arguments against private school censorship.
“Fortunately,” French wrote, “decent societies have … found ways to protect individuals from indecent behavior,” citing to certain common law principles. pic.twitter.com/F61iQ7ipo8
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
5c/ Some schools “explicitly promise a high level of free speech,” and French argued that “universities must deliver the rights they promise.”
He also noted courts would interpret school policies in accordance with the reasonable expectations of the student. pic.twitter.com/gSKM3tjCKq
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
Yeah, this was good stuff.
Was being the key word here.
5d/ French also argued private schools must give fair process, and that victims of selective enforcement “may have legal means to force the university to employ sound procedures.”
He later identified four points of process private school students are generally entitled to. pic.twitter.com/C8yg9X0cMM
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
5e/ “Liberal arts institutions that advertise themselves as welcoming the fullest pluralism and debate … should be held to that standard,” French argued. “For those who treasure liberty, the law can provide a powerful refuge.”
He also advocated use of common law fraud rules. pic.twitter.com/IThof08bPh
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
5f/ French put these principles into practice. In 2004, he praised the Catholic Univ. of America for “fulfill[ing] its legal and moral obligation to live up to its own principles,” after @TheFIREorg represented a student denied the opportunity to establish a campus NAACP chapter.
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
6a/ Given how congruous French’s approach to private school censorship is (was?) with the problems of Big Tech, which engages in consumer-facing “we’re a public square” rhetoric, it is strange he has been so dismissive of efforts to hold the platforms legally accountable.
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
It would only be strange if you didn’t understand these new takes are about acceptance from the very people he used to fight.
6b/ The “they’re private companies” logic applies to private schools as much as Big Tech. With more than 3,000 colleges and universities in the United States, there’s plenty of choice and there are plenty of other options. The schools also have their own associational rights.
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
6c/ What’s the principled distinction between the two responses to the two forms of private censorship?
Maybe French has addressed this. Or maybe his views have changed.
— James R. Lawrence III (@jlawrencenc) January 1, 2023
Or maybe French was full of it back then … maybe now.
Either way, this is not the David French of the past.
Clearly.
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