A private company has quite a bit of latitude, until it becomes a monopoly (or part of an oligopoly). Monopolists always hide behind the "but, we're a private

A private company has quite a bit of latitude, until it becomes a monopoly (or part of an oligopoly). Monopolists always hide behind the "but, we're a private company" defense. Who wouldn't? Settled law and legal tradition holds that we tolerate a monopoly only when they are regulated and conduct themselves in a manner that is fair to all. It is unacceptable for monopolists to infringe on peoples constitutionally protected rights. When a monopolist offers a service, they have to provide it to everyone. We can't have electric monopolists cutting power to people because they voted for the "wrong" party. We can't have banks and payment processors making it practically impossible for people to conduct commerce. Going down that path leads us to where China already is. Calling someone on the phone leads to a message about how the person is socially unacceptable and that proceeding with the call may cause you to be similarly blacklisted. Or, you just get phone access cut off.