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> There’s a good case to be made that Twitter isn’t Caesar and their lawn isn’t the Forum of Rome, there isn’t a good case to be made that their lawn is actuall

> There’s a good case to be made that Twitter isn’t Caesar and their lawn isn’t the Forum of Rome, there isn’t a good case to be made that their lawn is actually public property and should be treated as such just because they spent a decade deluding themselves and others. > > Social media isn’t a utility either, and no one has yet to make a case why Facebook and Twitter specifically should get special privileges and powers by society when they are in fact just corporations. I'm not making a case that their platforms are some Forum of Rome, or that their "lawn is actually public property." I'm also not proposing that Twitter or Facebook be given "special privileges and powers" based on their potential status as utilities. I'm proposing that they be obligated to uphold special restrictions and be subject to public oversight that, in my opinion, goes hand-in-hand with their monopoly or duopoly-like status in many countries. Currently, it seems like they have the best of both worlds: the benefits of existing marketshare (and perhaps governmental legislation that hampers new competitors) in a market that is inherently biased towards the largest players alongside the lack of oversight and social responsibility that we attribute to private entities.

SllX 6y ago
> in my opinion, goes hand-in-hand with their monopoly or duopoly-like status in many countries US law is concerned with the US. If Canada replaced their phone system with Facebook tomorrow, that’s the Canadian Parliament’s problem, not Congress’. Mind my central focus on US law is within the context of the comment you originally replied to. > I'm proposing that they be obligated to uphold special restrictions and be subject to public oversight that, in my opinion, goes hand-in-hand with their monopoly or duopoly-like status in many countries. You are proposing to treat them like they are special because you perceive them to be something they are not. The fact that you and I are having an exchange right here on a relatively obscure non-Twitter and non-Facebook website is proof enough that there are alternatives, and there are many many alternatives. If the entire Internet was somehow destroyed tomorrow and couldn’t be repaired, maybe some wizard did it, our First Amendment rights would continue to prevail, but we would probably be back to exchanging letters in the mail for our communications and meeting new people at the bar, assuming the phone system as it exists today went with the Internet to Hell. At least in that case we wouldn’t be discussing new and exciting forms of cronyism with companies that didn’t exist 20 years ago.

SllX 6y ago

> in my opinion, goes hand-in-hand with their monopoly or duopoly-like status in many countries US law is concerned with the US. If Canada replaced their phone system with Facebook tomorrow, that’s the Canadian Parliament’s problem, not Congress’. Mind my central focus on US law is within the context of the comment you originally replied to. > I'm proposing that they be obligated to uphold special restrictions and be subject to public oversight that, in my opinion, goes hand-in-hand with their monopoly or duopoly-like status in many countries. You are proposing to treat them like they are special because you perceive them to be something they are not. The fact that you and I are having an exchange right here on a relatively obscure non-Twitter and non-Facebook website is proof enough that there are alternatives, and there are many many alternatives. If the entire Internet was somehow destroyed tomorrow and couldn’t be repaired, maybe some wizard did it, our First Amendment rights would continue to prevail, but we would probably be back to exchanging letters in the mail for our communications and meeting new people at the bar, assuming the phone system as it exists today went with the Internet to Hell. At least in that case we wouldn’t be discussing new and exciting forms of cronyism with companies that didn’t exist 20 years ago.