For the 1964 Berkeley Free Speech movement, the IBM punch card (used by UC students to register for classes) was a key symbol of institutional conformity they were fighting. They reclaimed the cards by punching out “Free Speech” and other slogans—and also burned them en masse./1

The FSM, like many at the time, perceived IBM’s advanced computer systems as emblematic of the dangerous fusion of knowledge production in the university with the state and military apparatus. When Mario Savio talked about “the machine,” it wasn’t only metaphorical./2

In light of this history, it’s especially fascinating that the FSM’s contemporary political successors largely approve of delegating decisions about permissible speech to large private technology companies, and have spent years pressuring those companies to exert more control./3