[semimojo]

I heard Gov. Huckabee today on Outnumbered and he said social media should work like phone lines. They should provide the lines (platforms) and let the people say what they want.

So what that means is the taxpayers will have to buy Twitter, Facebook and YouTube (at least).

Imposing those restrictions would clearly be a taking by government because it would destroy their businesses.

Then we'll have federal government owned sites where each post and comment will be spammed with keto diet tips, Pepe memes, Dr. Zev's hydroxy cure and all manner of trolling - and the government won't be able to do a thing about it because of the first amendment.

Sounds great Huck, and all with our tax dollars.

[DesertRhino]

“So what that means is the taxpayers will have to buy Twitter, Facebook and YouTube (at least).”

It means nothing of the sort. The government did not have to buy Verizon and ATT to make it illegal for them to prevent me from placing a call to the Trump for President campaign. They cannot censor my text messages for content or stop me from communicating with anyone who wants to talk to me also.

In return, Verizon isn’t held liable when a stalker terrorizes his ex on the phone.

It’s laughable to assert that we have to buy the company.

Besides you can buy Youtube and Facebook for 200 billion. Throw in another 4 billion for twitter. Hell we just spent 2 trillion on a tuesday last month. Throw in all of Google and it’s another trillion.
But we don’t have to. We just clip their wings. And it’ll be easy to do with all the business they do with Red China :)

[newfreep]

So what that means is the taxpayers will have to buy Twitter, Facebook and YouTube

The last time I checked, the taxpayers don't own ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc......

Huck made an EXCELLENT point!

[Reily]

Perhaps, but I still think these are a form of common carrier and need to be treated as such. They are to phone companies, what phone companies were to telegraph companies.

[crz]

Here is the problem. They-the anti american commies, took these forums and abused their privileges destroying them.

Now the federal government is getting involved which nearly nobody wants.

They cant leave things alone and the result is this.

When does what is being done on these internet forums become controlled propaganda instead of free expression?

[DiogenesLamp]

Imposing those restrictions would clearly be a taking by government because it would destroy their businesses.

Does requiring restaurants and hotels to serve black people destroy their business?

Tell me how this theory works in your mind? How are their businesses getting destroyed from simply being required to serve everyone equally?

[itsahoot]

Imposing those restrictions would clearly be a taking by government because it would destroy their businesses.

You mean sort of like the Governors of insane states are doing to all their private businesses by refusing to let them open for business? You mean a taking without paying like the taking with out paying that they are already doing? How dare him.

[Dave W]

Rush had a better example today that I think explains it clearly. Social media companies are like empty vessels since its users can post anything they want. Because of that, social media companies are not subject to libel laws - they just let others make use of their platforms. Rush also compared social media companies to bookstores. No one sues a bookstore for libel, but they sue the publisher of the book. So if social media companies are like bookstores, they are just letting others use their platforms (or phone lines).

So when social media companies add content (such as fact checking), they can now be sued for libel because they now have their own content and are now publishers. They can still censor since they are private companies but can now be sued for libel.