Social Media Blocking

Social Media Blocking

Can social-media platforms like Twitter block or remove posts by particular people, based on the person’s viewpoint?  Generally, media companies are free to publish only material of their choosing.  Media companies routinely restrict the content they wish to publish.  In fact, the First Amendment protects their right to do so. Since they are not governmental entities, the First Amendment does not restrict their efforts to limit content that appears in their apps.    However, social media is often seen as being different in kind from traditional media, and even other forms of internet media.  Texas enacted a law in 2020, HB 20.  HB 20 was enacted by the Texas legislature and signed into law by its governor in response to Twitter’s blocking of then-President Trump in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.  The law prohibits social-media platforms from blocking or removing posts based on the speaker’s viewpoint. The law was upheld in a split decision by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in September 2022 and is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. That means that the Fifth Circuit’s decision by no means settles the issue.

If you select this assignment, you will:

Describe the issue: why do Twitter and other social media platforms remove content posted by particular political speakers? What is the current state of affairs concerning this issue? Have other states adopted similar measures?

Research, identify and discuss the major positions for and against allowing social media sites to restrict the content placed on them by members of the public. How do social media platforms justify those actions? Why do proponents of such measures feel that social media companies should be treated differently than other kinds of media?

Evaluate the competing positions. Do the assumptions and points of view underlying them hold up to analysis?