Big Tech Censors Strike Again
Excerpt: Many free speech advocates may disagree with some of the commentaries Vincent James has offered, but he is absolutely right about the First Amendment, and he is absolutely right about these social media companies. They are either platforms or they are publishers. They cannot be both at the same time. This is a matter that requires executive action, or an urgent court battle, or legislative remedy. (...) Unwanted commentators can also be attacked by throwing them off of subscription platforms such as Patreon, or even by expelling them from the payment processors such as PayPal. Anyone who doesn’t think this is happening, and happening disproportionately to conservatives, is ignoring a mountain of evidence. Here, compiled by Vincent James, is a list of websites that have been censored by the social media companies. Here, published earlier this year by American Greatness, is a similar list of politically incorrect vloggers, and here is a list of politically inconvenient climate information websites. [I’m leaning toward declaring “social media platforms” to be public utilities that are bound by the same requirements for free and open debate that would apply to any other utility. That would require them to be non-discriminatory. The alternative, to declare them to be “publishers,” would allow them to continue to discriminate at will, but would also subject them to libel laws and “truth in advertising” laws. Either (or both) could work to the mutual benefit of all parties except those platforms. What we have right now is the equivalent of having only three national newspapers that all say the same thing every day and suppress any divergent thought. Ron P.]
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