Commentary Twitter’s recent banning of accounts critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is deplorable. But it also forces us to really start considering how Western social media and big tech companies can defend freedom of speech, instead of being used as tools against us by authoritarian states such as the Chinese regime. The issue of tech-based freedom of speech platforms, and the damage they can do to free societies if left entirely unregulated, is not exactly a new one. In recent years, however, it has become even more troublesome, as authoritarian states have taken to using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and even LinkedIn to wage disinformation campaigns, affect elections, split and divide a society, and in general, cause havoc. When called upon to take proper action against authoritarian states that undermine free societies, the tech companies have had a rather consistent defense—namely that their platforms will ultimately bring greater freedom of speech, …