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Problems with the marketplace of ideas in age of social media

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In a marketplace of ideas, everyone can speak his mind without constraint, and through fair contest, the truth emerges.

This theory, commonly used to defend free speech, was examined yesterday, as the Select Committee on deliberate online falsehoods held its fifth day of hearings.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 24, 2018, with the headline Problems with the marketplace of ideas in age of social media. Subscribe