Google, Facebook, and Twitter all started out with admirable, lofty goals about preserving freedom of speech online saying that they wouldn't arbitrarily remove "distasteful" content. Yet one-by-one they all changed their position. Now countries, like Turkey are holding YouTube for ransom and bullying them to remove anything that they consider offensive or even inconvenient.
By protecting lawful content, no matter the source or how distasteful, you're protecting freedom of speech. So what does this mean for these companies on the front-line of the Internet? Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of CloudFlare, will explain what the cost of mob rule trumping the rule of law will be in the fight to keep the Internet free and open. He will share the real world impact that censorship has had on the Internet and the hidden cost born by the enterprises ultimately forced to censor themselves.Protecting a free Internet can be a difficult and lonely road with pitfalls and traps that, once triggered, leads to a dead end of total censorship. Matthew will conclude with strategies for managing high-risk content, and suggested strategies for the future. We, as an industry, can work together to ensure that illegal content is effectively targeted and lawful content is protected.