I used to deride people complaining about the acts of a private company whose users freely and willfully engage with that company’s services, especially claims about “free speech” when the company owner also has the free speech claim to make whatever policies they see fit for their privately owned business.
Now I think it’s pretty clear that the main limiter of speech is not the government but rather a handful of private companies, so the first amendment is no longer adequate to protecting speech. We need to pass laws about opening these platforms once they reach a certain size. Will we get more neo-nazi profiles? Sure, but that’s the trade off for having a platform for positive revolutionaries and journalists and I think the trade off is worth it.
Now I think it’s pretty clear that the main limiter of speech is not the government but rather a handful of private companies, so the first amendment is no longer adequate to protecting speech. We need to pass laws about opening these platforms once they reach a certain size. Will we get more neo-nazi profiles? Sure, but that’s the trade off for having a platform for positive revolutionaries and journalists and I think the trade off is worth it.