Me: “Twitter is engaging in censorship based on political beliefs. This is exactly a fascist/dictatorial behavior...”
Friend: “yea, well they’re a private company and can do whatever they want”
So I’m trying to figure out the most effective response cause their eyes glaze over when I say “then that makes them a publisher and they should have their section 230 protections revoked” or “well why was it a problem when a baker wouldn’t bake a cake for a gay wedding?”
What is the most effective response that could help them realize the danger in what they are supporting. Obviously it’s so ignorant and hypocritical, but NPC’s are difficult to rationalize with.
I know that the big thing about these companies is that despite being private companies, they're awarded protection by the government via Section 230 (from the Communications Decency Act, 1996)--in short, they're allowed to be hosts and are free from liability for what others post...however these companies are acting not as "hosts" (hands off) but as "publishers," (seen with the heavy editing and influence) and so there are lots of questions about whether or not this is legal, as censorship is technically allowed, but for things like violence and obscenity.
"Section 230(c)(1) ensures the free flow of ideas, exempting internet platforms from publisher and distributor liability posted by third parties. In this sense, Section 230(c)(1) provides common carrier protections. Just as telephone companies, broadband service providers, and even courier services like FedEx have no liability for the content of the messages and parcels they carry, neither does Facebook or Twitter.
Section 230(c)(2) was meant to keep things clean. It relieves carriers of liability for efforts to censor or curate content “in good faith to restrict access to or availability of material that the provider or user considers to be obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable.” Thus, when Prodigy edits comments for decency, it can do so without becoming a publisher of the entire website."
If anyone is more knowledgeable, please feel free to clarify what's written here, as I'm amateur at best.
There are a lot of good articles regarding this issue--hope it helps!