The Dangerous Speech Project is a project of the New Venture Fund to promote online censorship. The Dangerous Speech Project advocates for censoring speech that it argues can lead to violence. It defines speech as any form of human expression and argues that any speech that can inspire violence should be restricted. ¹

Its parent organization and donors consist of major left-of-center nonprofit advocacy organizations, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations. ^{2 3}

Background

The Dangerous Speech Project is a project of the New Venture Fund that was founded in 2010. Its website states that it receives “operational funding” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations. ^{4 5}

The Dangerous Speech Project is an advocacy organization that advocates for censoring speech it argues is harmful. Its staff publishes articles and reports on instances of speech it advises digital platforms to restrict. ⁶

The Dangerous Speech Project has a guide for a basis of advocacy that it uses in its publications and advocacy for censorship. The guide states speech that can interpreted by members of a group that may increase the risk of violence against another group, speech that promotes fear, speech deemed to be what it argues is false, and speech that may “indirectly” lead to harm are types of speech it argues should be censored. ⁷

Activities

In August 2018, in a blog post for the Dangerous Speech Project, University of New England professor David Livingstone Smith criticized how then-President Donald Trump called his former aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman “a dog” in a tweet. Livingstone Smith argued that such a statement, regardless of its unknown intent, could be used to associate all Black people with animals, making people with a predisposition for white supremacy ideology to believe that it is okay to commit violence against Black people because the victim might not be considered a person. For this reason, Smith advocates for Twitter and other platforms to remove that post and any post that may be interpreted in a way that could empower white supremacy. ⁸

In March 2020, the Dangerous Speech Project Founder Susan Benesch published a blog post that claimed describing COVID-19 or other diseases by location of origin, such as Wuhan, China, leads to racially motivated violence. Benesch advocates for government agencies, legislators, and media platforms to “protect the public” by not using such terms. ⁹

In May 2020, Benesch published a blog post for the Dangerous Speech Project advocating that Twitter censor then-President Donald Trump for a post that contained the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” ¹⁰

Funding

As a project of the New Venture Fund, the Dangerous Speech Project is not required to disclose independent financials. Its website does state that the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations are responsible for funding its operations. It also mentions having received supplemental funding from Public Safety Canada’s Community Resilience Fund, U.S. Institute for Peace, the Fetzer Institute, the Tides Foundation on the behalf of Google.org, and that it receives payments from corporations that solicit policy recommendations. ¹¹

Leadership

Susan Benesch is the founder and director of the Dangerous Speech Project. She is an adjunct associate professor at American University and is a faculty associate at Harvard University. Her research interests, publications, and advocacy involve advocating for limiting free speech rights and implementing censorship under the guise of preventing violence and hate. ¹²

1. “Dangerous Speech Project.” Idealist. Accessed January 16, 2023. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/3d2d6223a107425aba2d50ab95646267-dangerous-speech-project-washington.
2. “Funding: Dangerous Speech Project.” Dangerous Speech Project |, November 11, 2021. https://dangerousspeech.org/funding/.
3. “New Venture Fund – MacArthur Foundation.” RSS. Accessed January 15, 2023. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/new-venture-fund-43535/#:~:text=A%20project%20of%20the%20New%20Venture%20Fund%2C%20the%20Dangerous%20Speech,used%20to%20prevent%20such%20violence.
4. “Funding: Dangerous Speech Project.” Dangerous Speech Project |, November 11, 2021. https://dangerousspeech.org/funding/.
5. “New Venture Fund – MacArthur Foundation.” RSS. Accessed January 15, 2023. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/new-venture-fund-43535/#:~:text=A%20project%20of%20the%20New%20Venture%20Fund%2C%20the%20Dangerous%20Speech,used%20to%20prevent%20such%20violence.
6. “What We Do: Dangerous Speech Project.” Dangerous Speech Project |, December 23, 2020. https://dangerousspeech.org/what-we-do/.
7. “Dangerous Speech: A Practical Guide: Dangerous Speech Project.” Dangerous Speech Project |, January 3, 2023. https://dangerousspeech.org/guide/.
8. Smith, David Livingstone. “Donald Trump, Dangerous Speech, and the Legacy of White Supremacist Terrorism.” Medium. Dangerous Speech Project, August 24, 2018. https://medium.com/dangerous-speech-project/donald-trump-dangerous-speech-and-the-legacy-of-white-supremacist-terrorism-734eede1d158.
9. Benesch, Susan. “Covid-19 Dangerous Speech Breeds Violence and Helps the Disease Spread.” Medium. Dangerous Speech Project, May 29, 2020. https://medium.com/dangerous-speech-project/covid-19-dangerous-speech-breeds-violence-and-helps-the-disease-spread-8f17c12583ee.
10. Benesch, Susan. “As Twitter Takes on Trump, It Must Explain Itself.” Medium. Dangerous Speech Project, May 29, 2020. https://medium.com/dangerous-speech-project/as-twitter-takes-on-trump-it-must-explain-itself-fc383daaf43f.
11. “Funding: Dangerous Speech Project.” Dangerous Speech Project |, November 11, 2021. https://dangerousspeech.org/funding/.
12. “Adjunct Associate Professor.” American University. Accessed January 16, 2023. https://www.american.edu/sis/faculty/benesch.cfm.