Let’s have a history lesson, shall we? Everyone recite with me the first amendment:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech. That’s right — congress doesn’t have that power, but private companies certainly can. Think about school and work dress codes or company social media policies.
Twitter doesn’t need to explain itself for kicking off then-President Donald Trump from its service, especially since it should have been done ages ago. So then why would the social media site choose to wait on Trump’s words like a dog sitting for a bone for as long as it did? To gain influence, of course.
Twitter is still the bad guy here. They profited immensely off the former president by allowing him to build his base across the platform and then across the country. If you were outlining the history of the company, his name would be in the first paragraph if not the first sentence.
He has long violated their policies of using hate speech and inciting unrest. So, why now? Well, he’s of no use to Twitter anymore. He’s been impeached twice and has left office — and the public eye.
There’s a chance that in the near future he’ll even be disqualified from running for office once more. Twitter has gotten as much from him as they’ll ever get.
Now that the bird has finally overcome its most popular loudmouth, it must be time to rid ourselves of the intrepid control social media sites have had over us for the past decade. They wish to act as utilities, like some sort of energy or water company, but the regulation on those sorts of companies are far too harsh for their liking.
Just because a social media company finally made the right decision doesn’t mean we can’t still hold them accountable for all of their missteps.
That doesn’t mean this editorial board is pushing straight toward nationalization. Regulation is the way forward. Regulations to prevent lies and deceit from swinging an election. Regulations to keep violence and hate off of live streams.
Don’t think that Twitter can’t currently block anyone they want, and don’t think that the public shouldn’t still barrage Twitter and Facebook and the like with complaints and demands just because they made a good choice.
