By CANDY STALLWORTH
Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets are private companies. They should not be constrained by the government because of their censoring activities. Very simply, the government cannot censor people, but private industry can do so.
Why?
Because the First Amendment protects, among other matters, from the government putting a muzzle on individuals’ speech. People, in America, can legally say whatever they want – without government interference. There are a few exceptions, such as libel/slander, yelling “fire” in a crowded place, and terroristic threats (i.e., threatening to kill someone when the recipient has a reasonable belief that the threat is imminent and that the act can be immediately carried out). Other than that, the government cannot prohibit persons’ speech (or at least it is not lawful for the government to do so).
These First Amendment protections do not extend to private life, including private industry. Nor should they. if the government starts telling Facebook and Twitter that they must print anything and everything that users say, where will these mandates stop? What other businesses will the lawmakers stick their snout into, and force companies to allow the diatribe of any speaker. private business is private, and it must be left alone to make its own decisions regarding who can say what within the confines of its “business walls.”
While it is often very aggravating seeing Facebook et al censor conservative and other speech, they have the right to do so. If a diner proprietor doesn’t want foul language or a dry cleaner wants to deny anti-gay lingo or a factory owner chooses to limit liberal babble, such is their rightful choice. If people don’t like their choices, they can boycott their businesses. similarly, if people don’t like all the obvious censoring going on in the social media outlets, they can elect to cease participating on such platforms (and they can go to others for their social media fun, or maybe start up their own). but the government should no more interfeer with Facebook and Twitter than the cable news channels or the diner, dry cleaning, and factory owners of the country.
Candy Stallworth, an Empire State News staff writer, whipped her way through a doctoral education at the finest of American higher ed institutions, noting how unoriginal, inept, and annoying many of the schools’ professors were in their robotic attempts to maintain a politically correct narrative. BTW: she hates words like “narrative”, “optics”, and “gaffe.” Other than that, her turn-offs include non-masculine men, women who hate men, men who hate men, phonies, disloyal people, and overflowing garbage cans. She likes New England clam chowder better than Manhattan clam chowder, but prefers Manhattan to New England.
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