Yes, there is a double standard in play. It arises due to the fact that private companies are working with their own money. They are free to decide what to do a

Yes, there is a double standard in play. It arises due to the fact that private companies are working with their own money. They are free to decide what to do and how to do it. But the government works with money coerced from law-abiding innocent citizens, and so must strive to perform its duties in the most efficient and perfect way possible. Otherwise it becomes difficult to justify the continuous violence imposed on the populace in the form of taxation. Maybe an example that makes the distinction obvious: Bill Gates can outfit his bathroom with all kinds of advanced tech, spending millions of dollars on it, and nobody will feel the need to criticise him for it. After all, it is his money and he is free to do whatever with it. However, if a city government builds a public bathroom that costs millions of dollars per stall, that's a scandal. You cannot take the same liberties with public money as you can with yours.