So now that a judge has dismissed Pres Trump's lawsuit against Twitter. This means Elon Musk will be able to ban whoever he wants right?
(www.foxbusiness.com)
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Not over yet. We will have to see if Trump pursues further.
Judge Donato says the 1st Amendment doesn't apply to private businesses.
9th circuit What a shocker.
Now they cant cry foul when Elon makes the 1st amendment as part of the Twatter ToS
I agree with that though. A private business doesn't have to be a platform for ideas the owners disagree with. That makes sense to me.
But Twitter is not a private business. It's publicly traded, and it's acting as a public square and it has few if any legitimate alternatives.
So I would say that the government has no right to say what can and can't be said on this site, or on reddit, or on various forums dedicated to specific things like their used to be. It could be argued that Twitter and Facebook are unique enough in their markets to where the 1st applies.
I'm not a lawyer though, and that does feel a little too big government. I'd have to hear arguments for and against it to really make up my mind. It's worth the conversation though.
You appear in public. You buy things in public. You might sell things in public, or work in public. Although your actions can be described as public in some ways, you are still a private individual.
Same thing with companies: private companies that are publicly traded. Amtrak is a public company because it is owned by the government. Coca-cola is a private company, even though its stock can be purchased by any member of the public.
Whether Twitter operates as a public square or not is a separate question, which the courts are looking at. Although this court isn't looking at it any more.