Rabbi’s Corner
Shemot – Freedom of thought
Disclaimer: This article does not contradict the Halachic imperative to listen to sound medical advice and to follow the law of the land. It aims to promote intellectually honest debate, to be unafraid to ask hard questions and the notion that we are free to think for ourselves.
This week Talk Radio was “deplatformed” by YouTube for 12 hours. This effectively removed the ability for this mainstream Radio station from streaming its content on YouTube during that period.
YouTube have acted unilaterally because they believe that Talk Radio has broadcast information and ideas that are contrary to the consensus on Covid and therefore constitutes medical misinformation.
All this despite the fact that Talk Radio are governed by Ofcom which is considered to be an excellent regulator who have not found Talk Radio in breach of its broadcast code.
The problem is that Talk Radio have not put on air any conspiracy theories or Covid deniers. What they are “guilty” of in the eyes of YouTube is asking the hard questions about lockdown and critiquing it, bringing on different experts and social/political commentators who question the governments position on lockdown measures. Yet surely this is the business of proper journalism to ask difficult questions so as to build a better and more objective picture of the world. In other words YouTube have curtailed Talk radios right to free speech. Which I think is outrageous and a very dangerous trend.
This is a very worrying event because it shows how big tech companies are becoming more brazen in flexing their muscles to control the flow of information. Talk Radio is no small radio station. It is a part of the Rupert Murdoch empire and yet YouTube have no qualms in simply deleting them out of existence. Given the economic muscle of Murdoch had they not been reinstated quickly he could easily assemble an army of lawyers to fight. But the damage is still done because it means the “small people” who don’t have the financial power and connections will in future be prevented from having a platform on these social media sites.
Now what does this story have to do with this weeks Parsha Shemot!?
Shemos is not just about slavery and subjugation in its brute form. The Israelites are oppressed and afflicted with harsh labour their lives embittered.
Tragically modern slavery still exists today in the form of human trafficking and its associated human rights abuses. There is also economic slavery in the form of forced and ultra low paid labour. We in the west need to scrutinise better what we consume and be careful to try to buy products that have been produced ethically along the entire chain of production.
There is another form of slavery that we are gradually succumbing to in the west and that is slavery of our minds. There has emerged in only a few years a small yet vocal set of people who are fast changing the terms of our societal conversation. Political correctness has become “right think”. If you find yourself outside the mainstream then you no longer have a right to speak. This applies to a range of issues which come under the banner of identity politics (Race, Gender and now Health issues) that is fast shaping our society- and of course the “right” way to think is being decided for us by progressive liberals.
PC has emboldened powerful companies like YouTube to shut down proper intellectually honest debate in favour of socially engineering society into homogeneity of thought.
From a Jewish perspective promoting honest debate and exchange of views is a cornerstone of Torah Study in Judaism. Every page of Talmud is filled with debate and differing opinions sometimes even to the point of hair-splitting. This is because every view is considered of value to the search for truth as long as it is reach with intellectual honesty and based on sound reason (or in the case of the Torah an authoritative tradition). The Halacha must eventually be decided but that is besides the point as Torah study is also about understanding God’s will which is multifaceted and multidimensional.
We need to reintroduce meaningful debate back into our national and political discourse. Think of the TV debates between Trump and Biden or in the UK between prospective party leaders. They are not really debates. Our national discourse has descended into who can shout the loudest or who can repeat mantra like their political view regardless of whether it contains many inconsistencies or is contradicted by data.
Life is complex and so we need nuance to our discussions. However this can only happen when society as a whole re-establishes the value of freedom to think independently and express ones views without fear of “social retribution”. Too often we see versions of this type of “deplatforming” on our media- e.g. we never hear scientists who are outside the consensus on global warming. The list goes on.
There is a powerful teaching in Ethics of the Fathers that sums up the true concept of Freedom Chapter 6 Mishna 2:
“And it says (Exodus 32:16): “And the tablets are the work of G‑d, and the writing is G‑d’s writing, engraved on the tablets”; read not “engraved” (charut) but “liberty” (chairut)-—for there is no free individual, except for he who occupies himself with the study of Torah. And whoever occupies himself with the study of Torah is elevated”
The Hebrew Charus meaning engraved can be read Cheirus (as Hebrew can be vowelised many ways for multiple dimensions of meaning) meaning freedom.
Judaism bestowed the concept of Freedom upon the world not only in the literal sense to be free from oppression which we learn from the story of Exodus; but it also teaches us the importance of intellectual freedom which is what true Torah study is about -the pursuit of Truth.
There is a famous statement in the Talmud about debates “these and those are the words of the living God”
Of course this can’t apply to hard science but how much of life is in fact governed by hard science. Most issues that affect our loves are complex and nuanced and so multiple view points are helpful in getting the “right balance”.
If the platforms to hear other alternatives views are shut down then we can not properly measure the correctness of our position of standpoint. This can ultimately lead to xenophobic or illiberal ideas being pedalled and we know where that can lead to.
And of course who is judging the big tech companies as to whether their positions are right. There is no ability (or political will as Big tech donate huge sums to political campaigns) to deplatform them!
Maybe its time for a Jewish-value based tech company to create an alternative to YouTube.
We could call it “honest-debate-tube”
Shabbat Shalom