I understand this is all very disconcerting and scary, but I have a few questions:
1. The DNC and the Biden Campaign Teams are not government, right?
2. Twitter is a privately owned company, correct?
3. Is this a fist amendment issue or is it a matter of corruption? Both?
I’m asking because I’m not really sure and I know we have lawyers and scholars on these threads. I also know we have trigger happy bastards on these threads who love calling folks trolls and whatnot. I’m seeking understanding, not wanting to be labeled a troll by some of the more aggressive folks, but if you bring the heat, I’ll put it right back on you.
No, but the FBI is. Zuckerberg already publicly said the FBI reached out to Facebook, so we can assume they also reached out to Twitter.
2. Twitter is a privately owned company, correct?
If Twitter acted solely at its own discretion, it might not rise to the level of an unconstitutional 1st amendment violation.
Also, if Twitter applied its rules evenly and blindly to ideology, it wouldn't rise to the level of 1st amendment.
But when these companies are skirting very close to the edge of public utilities, and have special carve-outs in federal regulations that allow them the freedom to operate (47 U.S.C. § 230), they should be operating with the attitude of "abundance of caution" to the spirit of the legislation, which they did not do.
3. Is this a first amendment issue or is it a matter of corruption? Both?
If they are acting as an agent of the federal government as a cutout intended to bypass the 1st amendment, then it is a violation of the 1st amendment by the government. Twitter would be a co-conspirator in the unconstitutional activity.
-PJ
I see where you’re going with those questions and you’re right. Musk did take Twitter private recently (it is now delisted) however even when they were publicly traded, they were a private sector entity. Therefore, they have the absolute right to choose who gets to use their platform, who to ban or who not to ban, for whatever reason or no reason. Just like FreeRepublic. Or a radio station dumping a caller. Or a restaurant with a dress code refusing entry. So Twitter can never be in violation of 1A. If there was “town hall” legislation enacted it would have been different but nothing of the sort was ever enacted. Further, since the Biden campaign & DNC are both non-governmental agencies, a 1A violation is not applicable there, either. The only place a 1A violation is applicable is if the FIB or another gubment agency were directly calling the shots for bans or story spikes to social platforms. It’s already been reported they only provided “general recommendations” i.e. beware Russian hack or disinformation, with a “wink” and a “nod” to specifics like Hunter Biden laptop. So I have no doubt there will be no smoking gun and that no gubment agency will be on record saying “kill this story” or the like because 1. they don’t have to get specific in most cases and 2. story killing and narrative control from the deeeeeep state to the MSM & Socials are finely tuned machines, with whispers & secret avenues for dissemination that we could only imagine. Its been going on for decades and decades. Bottom line is that there is no doubt in my mind all of this is another planned sideshow. Once again our side will be focusing on this minor & stupid Twitter crap for months and years. Congress will hold their hearings to show they are doing something about these horrors and in the end it will amount to absolutely nothing. No one will ever be charged. All the while the real crimes of treason, money laundering and election rigging continues unabated.
Is the FBI "government?"
https://www.foxnews.com/media/josh-hawley-fbi-colluded-big-tech-bury-hunter-biden-story