At issue is whether and to what extent the government itself has had a hand in encouraging tech companies to squelch speech. If so, this is unconstitutional.
Free Speech
Freedom of speech means freedom from interference, suppression or punitive action by the government—and nothing else. It does not mean the right to demand the financial support or the material means to express your views at the expense of other men who may not wish to support you. Freedom of speech includes the freedom not to agree, not to listen and not to support one’s own antagonists. A “right” does not include the material implementation of that right by other men; it includes only the freedom to earn that implementation by one’s own effort. Private citizens cannot use physical force or coercion; they cannot censor or suppress anyone’s views or publications. Only the government can do so. And censorship is a concept that pertains only to governmental action. – AYN RAND
The Two Sides of the Censorship Coin
Forcing companies to allow content is the flip side of prohibiting them from expressing certain ideas. These are the two side of the censorship coin.
Texas’ War on Free Speech
Social media companies are not a threat to free speech. Governments that do not respect property rights are.
How The Federal Government Forces Social Media Companies to Censor Americans
Many will argue that Twitter and other tech companies censored Mr. Senger, Mr. Changizi, and Mr. Kotzin of their own volition, and as they are private actors, the First Amendment is inapplicable.
That argument should be rejected.
Elon Musk’s Big Move on Twitter
Elon Musk’s exciting and dramatic move represents a bold attempt to overthrow the regime of control, propaganda, and enforced opinion as manufactured by the administrative state.
Woke Mob vs. Joe Rogan: The College Educated That Never Grew Up
Undereducated journalists have “fact checked” things they’re not qualified to understand, “misinformation” now seems to mean “words by anybody who disagrees with me.” With the Joe Rogan debacle, it all falls into place.
Why the Persecution of Julian Assange Must End
Assange was merely doing what the vast majority of the mainstream media has long since neglected: his job.
Senator Rand Paul vs. YouTube’s COVID-19 “Misinformation Policy”
YouTube bans any video that contradicts pronouncements of the World Health Organization.
Facebook and Other Tech Companies as Arbiters of Truth
Should Facebook have a policy of removing “misinformation” in the first place?
Facebook “Silences” Intellectual Debate On Climate Issues
Climate Feedback’s “fact-check” wasn’t about actual facts.
DeSantis’s ‘Big Tech Bill’ Is Actually a Step Closer to the World Orwell Feared
If we want a free and fair internet, we must respect the rights of tech companies.
Prince Harry, Allow Me to Explain the First Amendment
While Prince Harry, some Senators, and the American people may be confused about the First Amendment, the founders were not.
Social Media “Fact Checking” versus Censorship
Corporations cannot censor, only governments can.
Louder with Crowder Calls Out “Censorship”
YouTube abruptly deleted some of Louder with Crowder videos, blocked him from uploading new videos for a week and permanently demonetized his channel. “It means I can make $0 on YouTube,” he explains.
Word Tyranny and Cultural Balkanization
America has entered into a new era of thought control. What is being insisted upon now used to be known as tyranny and criticized as dictatorship.
What Is Section 230 and Why Do Trump and His Allies Want to Repeal It?
Section 230 simply says that only internet users are responsible for what they write, not the private companies whose websites host the commenters. Secondly, it affirms what the First Amendment already implies—that private companies don’t have to host speech that violates their values.
The Greatest Threat to Free Speech is Not Big-Tech Blocking, But Government Censorship
Real censorship is when the state uses its legal power to use force to determine the content of speech we should engage in (either by banning non-rights violating speech or forcing one to say things one would not do so voluntarily). If the state can arbitrarily determine what Twitter must post, it goes from being the protector of freedom of speech to its censor.
A Free-Market Solution To Big-Tech Bias
A free-market option to counteracting the bias of today’s internet tech companies.
Fake Fact-Checking at Facebook
How Facebook lets activists restrict my videos based on something I never said.
“The Philadelphia Statement” and The Fight for Free Speech
What is the true test of a person’s commitment to free speech? The true test does not come when he permits people to say those things he deems acceptable. The true test comes when he permits people to say those things that he deems offensive.
Forbes and Cancel Culture vs. Capitalism
Abandoning objectivity—factual reporting—and spreading misinformation, no matter how popular, is not in media companies’ self-interest in the long term.
Fired for Speaking Truth By The #Cancel Mob
The new totalitarians demand that no one criticize their view of the world.
The New Censors vs. Freedom of Speech
When entitled leftists declare themselves the sole arbiters of truth, it’s crucial that we all speak up for free speech.
Twitter is Private Property President Trump
Letting President Trump use the police power of the government to fight the Left is self-contradictory. “If the owners of a media platform do not get to decide who can appear on it, then who gets to make that decision?” Government force will not achieve freedom. It will only achieve tyranny.
The Big Aristotle Educates King LeBron on Freedom for Hong Kong
With his historic statement against Communist China for the ideal of free speech and the United States of America, Shaq showed a prime example of the highest moral action. Leonard Peikoff once said that to save the world is the simplest thing — all one has to do is think. Shaquille O’Neal did exactly that.
NBA Kneeling To China Demonstrates That Freedom of Speech is Imposible Without a Free Market
The difference between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping is that Donald cannot command companies doing business with the NFL to stop doing so until every football player who has kneeled during the national anthem publicly apologize for “offending the American people.” China can.
The Free Market of Ideas Is The Best Way To “Regulate” Social Media
The view that social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are corroding our public discourse has become increasingly accepted wisdom, the starting point for a debate rather than the debate itself.
Laissez-Faire Social Media: Stop Blocking Us
On at least some platforms, all speech should be free. The more that is blocked, the less we learn.
Bernie Sanders Against Freedom of the Press
The Sanders plan would clear the path for any authoritarian to dictate whatever he defines as “real journalism.”
Price Controls Attack the Freedom of Speech
We increasingly live in a new “dark age” of economic ignorance, and even stupidity. Few things exemplify this trend as much as the call for price controls over the interactions of multitudes of people in the marketplace of supply and demand. There are few government...
‘Veggie Burger’ Ban: Mississippi’s Unconstitutional Advertising Restrictions
The government has no power to keep consumers in the dark—or to prohibit the use of terms that consumers understand—in order to protect special interests from honest competition.
The Contempt for Free Speech on College Campuses
The true test of one’s commitment to free speech comes when others are permitted to say and publish ideas they deem offensive.
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