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Events • April 15, 2019 

# Why the Government Should Not Regulate Content Moderation of Social Media 

Until recently, private social media companies have been free to moderate content on their own platforms. But accusations of political bias have caused some to call for government regulation of the efforts social media companies make to moderate content. Some have even suggested that social media entities ought to be nationalized to ensure they operate in the public interest. Is there a role here for government to play, or would government intervention create unintended consequences while simultaneously stifling free speech? These are just some of the questions addressed in John Samples’s recently published policy analysis, “Why the Government Should Not Regulate Content Moderation by Social Media.”

Join us on Monday, April 15, to hear from author John Samples and the director of Cato’s project on emerging technologies, Matthew Feeney.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

[![Matthew Feeney](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Matthew%20Feeney.jpg?itok=O149-e08)](/people/matthew-feeney) 

##### [Matthew Feeney](/people/matthew-feeney)

Head of Technology and Innovation, Centre for Policy Studies

[ 

](https://twitter.com/m_feeney) 

[![john-samples-cropped-final.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-08/john-samples-cropped-final.jpg?itok=YC0xH8Hf)](/people/john-samples) 

##### [John Samples](/people/john-samples)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

[ 

](mailto:jsamples@cato.org) 

![Media Name: jeff-vanderslice-cropped.png](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/jeff-vanderslice-cropped.png?itok=Iwy1glXJ) 

##### Jeff Vanderslice 

Former Director of Government Affairs, Cato Institute