Apple CEO Tim Cook: Hateful views ‘have no place’ on tech platforms

“Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday said he believes it is ‘right’ and ‘moral’ for technology companies to block hate speech and violent conspiracy theories from their platforms,” Emily Birnbaum reports for The Hill. “‘At Apple, we believe that technology needs to have a clear point of view on this challenge,’ Cook said at an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) conference on Monday afternoon.”
“At the conference, Cook accepted the ADL’s first ‘Courage Against Hate’ award, geared towards private sector leaders ‘dedicated’ to fighting bigotry,” Birnbaum reports. “‘That’s why we only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division and violence: You have no place on our platforms,’ Cook said during his keynote address. ‘You have no home here.'”
“‘My friends, if we can’t be clear on moral questions like these then we’ve got big problems,’ he said, an apparent dig at other tech giants that have struggled to combat criticisms that they are slow to address harassment and hate speech,” Birnbaum reports. “‘”At Apple, we are not afraid to say that our values drive our curation decisions, and why should we be?’ Cook said during the conference. Cook said that Apple is striving to ‘not be bystanders as hate tries to make its headquarters in the digital world.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: While we do not disagree with Apple’s right to do whatever they please with their platforms, we do believe that ultimately shining a spotlight on hateful speech is more effective (for thinking people) than trying to hide it. (The problem, as always, is non-thinking people, not to mention the issue of who gets to define “hate speech” and how broadly.)
It’s “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” not “keep your friends close and go Orwellian on your enemies.”
In darkness, like mushrooms evil grows, but sunlight obliterates hate.
SEE ALSO:
Apple CEO Tim Cook to receive Anti-Defamation League’s 2018 Courage Against Hate Award on December 3rd – November 30, 2018