Restriction of censorship by private entities

[Proud90sKid]

Governor Desantis of Florida is exploring working with his party on preventing websites from censoring conservative opinions. I’m not sure how this can impact any site that has servers outside of Florida but it was motivated by the observation that many tech giants are now censoring or suspending the accounts of conservatives or those who do not display an opinion that the website owners allow- as a part of the “cancel culture” that is starting to permeate everything in America. As these are large companies, they can impact a person or entity’s reputation or business functionality in a profound way.

But this opens an interesting question. With tech giants like google having such a powerful potential influence on a business or person, at what point-if any- should a person or entity have some right to be protected from restrictions from those companies as they would from a government?

One has freedom of speech but not freedom from consequences. The conservatives being 'silenced' violated the sites rules. Like any site or company, people that violate the terms face consequences.

If one doesn't want a company to 'silence' them, they should avoid continually violating the terms.

[Dawn.]

Originally Posted by .:Bibliophile:.

One has freedom of speech but not freedom from consequences. The conservatives being 'silenced' violated the sites rules. Like any site or company, people that violate the terms face consequences.

If one doesn't want a company to 'silence' them, they should avoid continually violating the terms.

You took the words right out of mouth.

[Storyteller.]

I agree with the posts above me, and I also want to add that none of what you've described is actually cancel culture. If you sign up for a website and then go against the ToS, your content and possibly account can be removed. That's not being cancelled, that's the consequences of not adhering to rules that you agreed to follow when you made your account.

[MWF]

I think there's definitely a problem with big tech monopolies regulating speech. With almost 4 billion people on social media, sites like Facebook and Twitter are effectively public squares, and I personally dont believe they should be regulated by tech billionaires. I think the government should acquire the sites and regulate them like a public utility- speech shouldn't be regulated except in instances where there are imminent threats of violence, provable libel or defamation.
I disagree with pretty much everything that conservatives on social media say, but in the public square, they would HAVE the right to say it, even if most of their worldview is a fantasy (see: almost all of QAnon). Part of the reason the social media websites are taking any action at all on conservatives is to get in good standing with Democrats in Congress as they are being investigated for monopolies. Typically though, when the tech companies censor someone on the right, they also censor someone on the non-mainstream left to appear unbiased. For example, they did that to the Red Scare Podcast on Twitter and the Chapo Trap House reddit page. It doesn't matter if I agree with what they say, but I think leaving speech open to all nonviolent forms of expression, in my opinion, is the least bad option available.

The idea that Desantis cares about free speech isn't true. He only cares about free speech for conservatives. He literally signed a bill banning people from speaking out about Israel's human rights violations against Palestine in public institutions (under the guise of preventing anti-semitism). Whether you agree or disagree with BDS, the whole point of free speech is to give people the right to express unpopular opinions without LEGAL repercussion (unless it incites violence). He also proposed a bill that says it would now be a felony for protesters to block roads (currently a misdemeanor) and drivers would NOT be liable if they run over protesters with their car while they're blocking the road. Thats under the guise that they are trying to "escape the mob". Thats up to a judges interpretation, and this legislation would effectively silence dissent that Desantis disagrees with, like Black Lives Matter.

[MWF]

Another thing- when Parler got taken down and Twitter and Facebook purged a bunch of QAnon accounts, a lot of those people went to fringe social media outlets that are filled with white supremacists and Neo-Nazis. A lot of them will get further radicalized, and the violence in this country might somehow get worse.