Rarely is social media a public forum, therefore, the private sector can maintain its own standards for the audience they attract. The private sector is regulated because Americans don't want children watching the Playboy Channel.
Lifetime is not going to be holding candidate forums because that does not appeal to their audience.
Facebook has gone through a great deal of trouble to end the hate speech found in political talk. White Supremacists are known to infiltrate the internet to attract young men in their teens to recruit them for their national agenda and killing.
Over and over parent groups are nailing the incidence of bullying and harsh language that offends the senses and maims the hearts and minds of children. There are a lot of people that want to see hate curtailed on social media. DeSantis and his hellions in the Florida legislature is not setting precedent they are pretending to be correct when they are grossly attempting to promote the level of hate that Trump did that inspired insurrectionists.
There is no going back to "social media gone wild." If there is social media that offer platforms for political speech, then there will opportunity for everyone to reach the people in trying to be elected. But, hate speech that the right-wing institutes is definitely extreme and should be forbidden especially after January 6th. There is no way private enterprise has to provide a forum for candidates if it is out of their normal realm of viewership or a listening audience.
The United States of America is not going to have a political party that promotes hate and insurrection. These bozos mean it. All one has to do is read the biography of Hawley and realize he has no use for the USA Constitution and that is most of his life. So, while freedom of speech is a part of the First Amendment to the USA Constitution, it is not absolute. Computers are megaphones and the country has to come to terms with the fact that enemies of the USA both foreign and domestic attempt to harm this democracy through intrusion upon our media. It has to end. We cannot allow this country to believe in hate and institute violence whenever it pleases a political candidate. There have to be limits to the harm a candidate can cause to the rights of others. Hate is a strong emotion and fear when mixed with hate is incredibly powerful. The best example of that is the dilemma of the Asian American community and the role of hate speech and fear.
I think most Americans have had their fill of hate, bigotry and racism in this country and want it to end.
The FCC has a role in this and MUST protect the lives of Americans from "hate and fear politics."
Shut down the websites and end the Twittering. It is right and just to protect the American people.
By David McCabe
Washington - Florida on Monday(click here) became the first state to regulate how companies like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter moderate speech online, by imposing fines on social media companies that permanently bar political candidates for statewide office.
The law, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is a direct response to Facebook’s and Twitter’s bans of former President Donald J. Trump in January. In addition to the fines for barring candidates, it makes it illegal to prevent some news outlets from posting to their platforms in response to the contents of their stories.
Mr. DeSantis said signing the bill meant that Floridians would be “guaranteed protection against the Silicon Valley elites.”
“If Big Tech censors enforce rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable,” he said in a statement....
The law, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, is a direct response to Facebook’s and Twitter’s bans of former President Donald J. Trump in January. In addition to the fines for barring candidates, it makes it illegal to prevent some news outlets from posting to their platforms in response to the contents of their stories.
Mr. DeSantis said signing the bill meant that Floridians would be “guaranteed protection against the Silicon Valley elites.”
“If Big Tech censors enforce rules inconsistently, to discriminate in favor of the dominant Silicon Valley ideology, they will now be held accountable,” he said in a statement....
