When we think of moderated comments, the specter of censorship seems inevitable. But is censorship such a bad thing? The rise of social media suggests we ought to take the rough with the smooth, but why should we?

So what have the recent elections in Iran, Skittles and Trent Reznor got in common? All three represent what happens when social media and censorship collide.

If we can’t curate our comments and manage our messages, do we run the risk of not only losing the signal in the noise, but the noise itself becoming the signal? For all its failings, Digg points the way to a new kind of democracy on the web. However, a free-for-all does not for free speech maketh:

“Free speech is not the right to talk crap, insult people and generally be an idiot. While I will always defend the rights of the individual to exercise their individuality, if those individuals are incapable of recognizing their failure to offer something of value to everyone else, or to remain at least reasonable and calm, then someone has to make that decision for them. That’s not censorship, that’s