> It changes nothing that these platforms are not the sole means for distributing speech or information. A person always could choose to avoid the toll bridge or train and instead swim the Charles River or hike the Oregon Trail. But in assessing whether a company exercises substantial market power, what matters is whether the alternatives are comparable. For many of today’s digital platforms, nothing is.<p>Well said. Hopefully the legislature can address the problem before the courts have to step in. Or even if the executive would just apply the anti-trust regulations already in place.
What's surprisingly missing from these discussions is a special case of propaganda.<p>Should e.g. Goebbels-like informing have a place in modern society? Is yelling "fire!" in a theater an always protected speech?<p>If First Amendment isn't absolute - it's not clear - what are the important differences? Did Twitter overreacted on Trump's tweets and curbed free speech - or did it finally decided to protect its users from dangerous manipulations?