Social media is just a utility service and should be regulated as such. Just like your power company cannot cut you off, tech companies shouldn't be able to cut you off based on your political views and opinions. Clarence Thomas got it right: https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/04/clarence-thomas-is-ri...
I don't get the argument the author of this Tech Dirt article is supporting here. The problem is that a common carrier is engaging in censorship. But the argument seems to be that that very same censorship is justification that social media companies are not common carriers:
> User-generated content on social media platforms is screened and sometimes moderated or curated. The State balks that the screening is done by an algorithm, not a person, but whatever the method, social media platforms are not mere conduits.
Yes, the problem is that they are not behaving as conduits when they should be, not that they "are not" mere conduits. Then again, Tech Dirt is tremendously biased (look at all the mentions of "Trump" in this article) and so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised at the pandering take in this article.
I don't get the argument the author of this Tech Dirt article is supporting here. The problem is that a common carrier is engaging in censorship. But the argument seems to be that that very same censorship is justification that social media companies are not common carriers:
> User-generated content on social media platforms is screened and sometimes moderated or curated. The State balks that the screening is done by an algorithm, not a person, but whatever the method, social media platforms are not mere conduits.
Yes, the problem is that they are not behaving as conduits when they should be, not that they "are not" mere conduits. Then again, Tech Dirt is tremendously biased (look at all the mentions of "Trump" in this article) and so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised at the pandering take in this article.