“Facebook Bans Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones and Others as ‘Dangerous’,” The Wall Street Journal, May 3, 2019. Facebook bans selected individuals from the platform.
If a government did this, there would be problems. But is it okay for a private party with nearly monopoly power in a bit of social mediaverse? How will these people be able to communicate to their audiences?
Those who are big fans of Freedom of Speech might reconcile themselves to the fact that writing something down isn’t speech. And those who are fans of Freedom of the Press may feel this isn’t “the Press.” Others may think it’s time to amend our Founding Documents to reflect some of the new technologies. And the private/public distinction.
Should we allow a private party to make these calls? Is the alternative chaos?
Governance (Facebook decides what it will and won’t allow). Information.
infogovnuggets 