Scottish lawmakers demand curbs on online speech

Ian Blackford, the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons in the UK, is at the forefront of what looks like yet another “crusade in the making,” backed by Scottish MPs from different parties, against what he referred to as “keyboard warriors.”

This time, the effort – or the rhetoric – seems to be directed at parties themselves, rather than on pressing social media to find ways to censor content more vigorously and stringently.

Blackford and like-minded politicians, such as SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, believe that social media giving people an opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings is tantamount to providing toxic and polarizing platforms for online abuse, a phenomenon that must be “tackled.”