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Not infringing Freedom of Speech in the Bill of Rights is a restriction placed on the government, not private businesses. Private businesses have always had the

Not infringing Freedom of Speech in the Bill of Rights is a restriction placed on the government, not private businesses. Private businesses have always had the ability to decide who can use their services, for the most part (I say for the most part because companies aren't allowed to deny service based on certain traits, like race or gender, but that's a good thing). And your second point, again, is something private companies are doing, not the government. There's a big difference between individual companies deciding how to police their services versus what a government forces a company to do.

OrvalWintermute 5y ago
How do you balance that with the cases where Governments (extra-US/federal/state/local) have been implicated in correspondence with private businesses to obtain takedowns of politically unpopular positions? This gives the appearance of a Freedom of Speech issue, but it is actually more complex than that.
- cableshaft 5y ago
  Just because the law is in place doesn't mean governments aren't going to do some shady shit anyway. I'm not trying to say that the US government is free from corruption or stretching/overstepping those boundaries. Hell, just look at what Snowden leaked a decade ago about the NSA mass surveillance of its own citizens. But generally speaking, we do have some checks in place that at least so far have kept us from going as far as China has.
refurb 5y ago
“We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.” Jen Psaki, Whitehouse Press Secretary https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/07/15/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-and-surgeon-general-dr-vivek-h-murthy-july-15-2021/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/202...
- jcranmer 5y ago
  Government and corporate cooperation in anti-disinformation campaigns is certainly an interesting, unsettled area of law. It's likely going to come down to the degree to which the government's efforts are coercive or not upon Facebook et al, and I wouldn't be able to tell you a priori if the current efforts do or do not violate the First Amendment. It would certainly be welcome to see some people actually advancing these arguments in legal suits, but the extant cases are turning on allegations which don't advance these claims very well.
- nostrademons 5y ago
  This is something you can do too. Next to each post, by the 3-dot menu, select "Find support or report post." Click "False information", hit Next, and then hit Done. Voila! You have as much power as the U.S. government.
  - refurb 5y ago
    Who do I call when it’s not taken down? No doubt Jen Psaki has Andy Stone, former Democratic PAC Communication Director, now Facebook Director on speed dial? Hell I doubt Jen clicks anything when a quick call will do.

OrvalWintermute 5y ago

How do you balance that with the cases where Governments (extra-US/federal/state/local) have been implicated in correspondence with private businesses to obtain takedowns of politically unpopular positions? This gives the appearance of a Freedom of Speech issue, but it is actually more complex than that.

cableshaft 5y ago
Just because the law is in place doesn't mean governments aren't going to do some shady shit anyway. I'm not trying to say that the US government is free from corruption or stretching/overstepping those boundaries. Hell, just look at what Snowden leaked a decade ago about the NSA mass surveillance of its own citizens. But generally speaking, we do have some checks in place that at least so far have kept us from going as far as China has.

refurb 5y ago

“We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.” Jen Psaki, Whitehouse Press Secretary https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/07/15/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-and-surgeon-general-dr-vivek-h-murthy-july-15-2021/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/202...

jcranmer 5y ago
Government and corporate cooperation in anti-disinformation campaigns is certainly an interesting, unsettled area of law. It's likely going to come down to the degree to which the government's efforts are coercive or not upon Facebook et al, and I wouldn't be able to tell you a priori if the current efforts do or do not violate the First Amendment. It would certainly be welcome to see some people actually advancing these arguments in legal suits, but the extant cases are turning on allegations which don't advance these claims very well.
nostrademons 5y ago
This is something you can do too. Next to each post, by the 3-dot menu, select "Find support or report post." Click "False information", hit Next, and then hit Done. Voila! You have as much power as the U.S. government.
- refurb 5y ago
  Who do I call when it’s not taken down? No doubt Jen Psaki has Andy Stone, former Democratic PAC Communication Director, now Facebook Director on speed dial? Hell I doubt Jen clicks anything when a quick call will do.