Obsession with civility can distract from legitimate anti-government critics

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No one who cares about democracy, decency and security could argue that hostile and malicious protests – in some cases involving people who pour out homophobic and racist abuse – outside Leo Varadkar’s home are normal. or acceptable. They are ugly and rotten. But they are not necessarily the consequence of general and sincere criticisms of the Tánaiste or of the policies of his government. Most rational people, even if they are really angry, even if they express their criticism of politicians on social media in the most vigorous way, will not do something as extreme as show up at someone’s house saying nonsense.

When it comes to the slide in the standard of speech (or maybe this slide becomes more visible thanks to social media), we have to be smart to discern what is a real red flag and what is a reflection. – even funny – mirrored – a slice of genuine public sentiment. All of this, of course, is underscored by the way social media algorithms push people toward polarization. Last week, Twitter admitted it was amplifying more tweets from right-wing politicians and the media. The right is very angry, and anger is good business for social media companies.

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