I've always found it funny how the most vocal detractors of deplatforming are generally right-learning politicians and pundits, some of whom have publicly stated how much they like Ayn Rand.<p>The irony here is that Rand pretty explicitly supports the right <i>to</i> deplatform people in <i>The Virtue of Selfishness</i>. Up until recently it was a common attitude in conservative political circles that forcing someone to publish content they disagreed with was <i>itself</i> the violation of a right. See below:<p>"The right of free speech means that a man has the right to express his ideas without danger of suppression, interference or punitive action by the government. It does not mean that others must provide him with a lecture hall, a radio station or a printing press through which to express his ideas. Any undertaking that involves more than one man, requires the voluntary consent of every participant. Every one of them has the right to make his own decision, but none has the right to force his decision on the others."<p>I struggle to find a single source that the American right likes to cite which would go in the opposite direction, given that more right-leaning conceptualizations of rights tends to be a <i>freedom from</i> as opposed to a <i>freedom to</i> right. Given this framework, social media companies have a <i>freedom from</i> providing a platform for ideas they find objectionable.