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Everyone knows Twitter is a private company, that is besides the point. Consider this: Whoever governs society is the government. Reality does not have clear l

Everyone knows Twitter is a private company, that is besides the point. Consider this: Whoever governs society is the government. Reality does not have clear lines like a textbook about economics and politics might have. When does a company begin to govern society? In my opinion, companies like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Amazon, etc. are large enough to govern society. And as such they can be considered in a different light than your average corner store down the street. If you disagree still. Would you consider the historial East India Trading Company a private enterprise, or something inbetween a political organisation and a private enterprise?

ryandrake 5y ago
Where does the "monopoly on the use of force" come in? Twitter doesn't govern me, because it cannot force me to do anything if I don't have some kind of relationship with it. Same with Amazon or any other corporation. I'm not knowledgable about the East India Trading Company, but without an army and the ability to legally use force/violence to tell people what to do absent a business arrangement with them, I doubt they could be considered government. EDIT: According to Wikipedia[1], "The company eventually came to rule large areas of India, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions." This sounds like a government power to me, one that Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Amazon don't have. I don't see examples of companies today that have these powers over people in my country, but am willing to be proven wrong. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company
- OrvalWintermute 5y ago
  Perhaps you forgot about [1]. If regulatory capture permits BigTech to force police/govt to exercise authority for them, that is basically close to the same thing. I'm guessing they could easily horsetrade w. the FBI on this, for expanded levels of access or simply qui pro quo. [1] https://www.computerworld.com/article/2468894/cops-raid-home-of-gizmodo-blogger-over-leaked-iphone.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2468894/cops-raid-home...
mbesto 5y ago
> Everyone knows Twitter is a private company, that is besides the point. Except all of the people who think Twitter is violating first amendment rights?[0] The idea of private vs government is pretty core the first amendment debate. [0] - https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=twitter%20violating%20first%20amendment https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=twitter%20violating%20...

ryandrake 5y ago

Where does the "monopoly on the use of force" come in? Twitter doesn't govern me, because it cannot force me to do anything if I don't have some kind of relationship with it. Same with Amazon or any other corporation. I'm not knowledgable about the East India Trading Company, but without an army and the ability to legally use force/violence to tell people what to do absent a business arrangement with them, I doubt they could be considered government. EDIT: According to Wikipedia[1], "The company eventually came to rule large areas of India, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions." This sounds like a government power to me, one that Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Amazon don't have. I don't see examples of companies today that have these powers over people in my country, but am willing to be proven wrong. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company

OrvalWintermute 5y ago
Perhaps you forgot about [1]. If regulatory capture permits BigTech to force police/govt to exercise authority for them, that is basically close to the same thing. I'm guessing they could easily horsetrade w. the FBI on this, for expanded levels of access or simply qui pro quo. [1] https://www.computerworld.com/article/2468894/cops-raid-home-of-gizmodo-blogger-over-leaked-iphone.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2468894/cops-raid-home...

mbesto 5y ago

> Everyone knows Twitter is a private company, that is besides the point. Except all of the people who think Twitter is violating first amendment rights?[0] The idea of private vs government is pretty core the first amendment debate. [0] - https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=twitter%20violating%20first%20amendment https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=twitter%20violating%20...