3 ms·

Are the social media companies doing the printing? If I am a phone company and I detect that people are talking about anti-vax stuff, can I disconnect the call

Are the social media companies doing the printing? If I am a phone company and I detect that people are talking about anti-vax stuff, can I disconnect the call? What if it is a party line? Generally, newspapers print content they write. Not content written by Joe Q. Public, they often change the content of their writers using editors or don't run stories to push a narrative. In doing so, they are responsible for the content and stories they create. Social media companies seem to want to be telephone companies with no responsibility when it suits them but also have the power of editor when it suits them.

juve1996 4y ago
Phone companies are a pipe - the content isn't broadcast publicly like it is on social networks, so that argument isn't logically consistent. Phone companies have no need to moderate content. Social media is akin to paying for a storefront advertisement, or sending a letter to the editor. You buy access to a display window and can put your content there, under conditions. This is no different than that. If that content violates the rules, it can be removed. I wouldn't get mad if a shop owner agreed to put my sign up. I also wouldn't be mad if he said no. It's his property. I can buy my own property and do my own thing. Twitter is a private corporation. If they decided tomorrow that they'll only allow posts about bitcoin and delete everything else, that is their right. The government should not be telling people, or private corporations, what they can, and can't, post on their platforms. Do you think HN moderation should be removed? Do you want more cesspools online? That's what you're arguing for.