"Whittle"? Carve out small slices?
No, expect the giant boot of government to come down squarely on our necks. It will be top down censorship. Durov, Musk...Brazil, UK, France, EU and if Kamala wins, then here in the US. It would be quick, regardless of how many people are talking and listening, "now".
All those words, who’ll miss them if they’re squelched?
Sarcasm?
Not technically sarcasm, but rhetorical.
I do believe the current assault on free speech would not be happening without TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and the rest of the panoply of 21st c communication.
My generation is the first to type with thumbs and it shows in the content and the widespread indifference to abstract ideas. Most care only that you don’t type something mean, and they “feel” that if you do that, you deserve to forfeit your platform. They don’t value speech per se, because the supply of it is now apparently inexhaustible.
Ask around. Ask a college student, “Choose one, would you rather see speech protected, or people protected from speech?”
Machiavelli also saw things as they are rather than as they ought to be, so I’m in good company.