If you are self employed and are receiving social security income, are you exempt from paying self employment taxes?

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No.  If you continue to earn money while receiving benefits from Social Security, you are still required to pay for Social Security and Medicare, whether you are a W-2 employee or self-employed.  if you were a W-2 employee your employer would still withhold SS and Medicare; since you are self-employed, you are required to pay self-employment tax.

 What confuses people about this is that before you reach full retirement age, if you continue working while drawing SS, your benefits can be reduced if you earn over a certain limit. (For 2016 that limit was $15,720)  After full retirement age, no matter how much you continue to earn, your benefits are not reduced by your earnings; your employer will still have to withhold for Social Security and Medicare.