As constitutional rights of free speech remain a fundamental cornerstone of American freedom, recent concerns from leading Republicans have been raised regarding Eventbrite’s failure to remove anti-semitic events from being visible on their platform.
Senator Ted Cruz from Texas recently encouraged Eventbrite to address the problem of having “fans of Louis Farrakhan and their anti-Semitic hate rallies listed on their platform”. He further posted on Twitter, “This is vile and wrong. Eventbrite (or any other platform) should not be enabling hate rallies. Take ’em down.”
Similar concerns surrounding Eventbrite’s lack of response and ‘do-nothing attitude’ towards hate rallies were echoed by Senator Rob Portman of Ohio. Pointing out the hypocrisy of a platform that allows for attacks on the Jewish communities’ faith and way of life while seeking to ban certain conservative figures and ideas Portman’s statement read, “It is important to allow different views to be heard, but this is beyond the pale, and it’s time for Eventbrite to take action.”
Thus far, Eventbrite has not responded to these inquiries. However, Republicans are sending a powerful statement to ensure that the platform’s zero-tolerance policy include anti-Semitic events and messages from being visible and distributed. This has become a growing and immediate issue within the technology industry with many groups and individuals pushing for a swift resolution.
No matter what happen in this particular circumstance, tech companies are being encouraged by Republicans to uphold a standard of decency that echoes the values of respect and tolerance. This is an important reminder that technology should be used for good, especially when it comes to guarding basic human rights.