Censor Our People, "Please"

The White House admits that it is 'flagging' online posts for censorship by technology companies like Facebook. Lawyer Ron Coleman is currently conducting a legal action against such censorship, which he argues is unconstiutional. 
"As recently as 2019, the Supreme Court reasoned 'a private entity can qualify as a state actor,' subject to First Amendment protections, under three circumstances. See Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck (2019)....

* "'When the private entity performs a traditional, exclusive public function,' see Jackson v. Metropolitan Edison Co. (1974); 

*"'When the government compels the private entity to take a particular action,' see Blum v. Yaretsky, (1982); or

*"'When the government acts jointly with the private entity." See Lugar v. Edmondson Oil Co. (1982)."

This is what the wise guys commenting on this thread - unsurprisingly - seem to not know when they say, "Muh private company"

Ron Coleman was in Philadelphia on November 3rd when Republicans were forcibly kept from performing their legal (indeed mandated by law) poll watching duties. He and his fellows conducted a successful lawsuit that day, obtained a court order, and then had the city government simply ignore it. 

on

4 comments:

  1. Aggie3:51 PM

    fascism

    The tenets of a centralized totalitarian and nationalistic government that strictly controls finance, industry, and commerce, practices rigid censorship and racism, and eliminates opposition through secret police.

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  2. Grim4:38 PM

    Good thing they’re not nationalistic, then.

    ReplyDelete
  3. E Hines5:14 PM

    This is what the wise guys commenting on this thread - unsurprisingly - seem to not know when they say, "Muh private company"

    There's a separate path here, too. It's well established in Civil Rights law and Supreme Court rulings that private enterprises that are public accommodations (of which diners are a canonical example) may not discriminate, under the 14th Amendment, on the basis of race. It's an easy extension of that "may not discriminate" to include 1st Amendment speech, and it's quite clear that Facebook et al., have become, if they weren't created as, public accommodations. There's not even any need to regulate them as utilities or common carriers.

    Eric Hines

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  4. Aggie5:31 PM

    "Good thing they’re not nationalistic, then."

    * Maxwell Smart in a Black Military Uniform * clicks heels

    "Missed it by that much!"

    ReplyDelete