Posted on 01/12/2021 10:09:28 AM PST by LurkedLongEnough
It is “axiomatic,” the Supreme Court held in Norwood v. Harrison (1973), that the government “may not induce, encourage or promote private persons to accomplish what it is constitutionally forbidden to accomplish.” That’s what Congress did by enacting Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which not only permits tech companies to censor constitutionally protected speech but immunizes them from liability if they do so.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
bump for later
Ping
I am certain that CJ John Roberts will have an op-ed in the WSJ tomorrow begging someone to bring a lawsuit against Section 230 so he and his fellow justices can immediately declare Section 230 to be unconstitutional.
thanks for posting....i was unaware of the Railway case, super helpful.
Think article is off base because Constitution prohibits only government from censoring, not everyone and anyone.
I think what they are saying is the government cannot collude with private firms to restrict Constitutional rights.
There certainly is collusion between the Deep state and the Tech Oligarchs.
All of them colluded against President Trump.
“which not only permits tech companies to censor constitutionally protected speech but immunizes them from liability if they do so.”
I still think it doesn’t apply. They are not a government entity so how can someone sue them for that? The first amendment doesn’t apply to them.
If Lord of the Rings were real, Republicans would fall all over themselves to give Sauron back his property.
What’s next, Amazon can quarter troops in your home because they are not the goberment?
Watched the first one again for the first time in 20 years since it first came out in the theaters at Christmas time. The opening where the female narrator says “men grave power above all” was a wow moment considering what we are seeing today.
They did such a good job. Sure, it can be nitpicked to death, but they captured most of what it is about.
It's in their Terms of Service. The one you click past: Agree/Next/Next/Finish.
Great opinion piece—if we had actual rule of law.
Unfortunately, the legalization of massive voter fraud and its de facto ratification by the Supreme Court has nullified the Constitution.
Denial is not a river in Egypt.
Without section 230 protections these companies would not be in a position to censor participant comments. This means that, through 230 law, the government is censoring participant comments. That’s a violation of Amendment 1 of the U.S. Constitution.
Uh, Cert Denied in Fyk v Facebook, which was exactly that issue. Wonder where our 5 conservatives were...wondering .....wondering...
You're right--people often confuse that. And I think there's a corollary: What right does the government have to wade into the arena of private litigation and interfere with my lawsuits against Big Tech? That's why 230 needs to go.
Wasn’t the 1973 movie ROLLERBALL about sports being taken over by Big Tech?
Did you read the article?
Agreed - great opinion piece. Thanks for sharing.
I think a few people here either skipped the following or just didn’t understand it:
“Google, Facebook and Twitter should be treated as state actors under existing legal doctrines. Using a combination of statutory inducements and regulatory threats, Congress has co-opted Silicon Valley to do through the back door what government cannot directly accomplish under the Constitution.
It is “axiomatic,” the Supreme Court held in Norwood v. Harrison (1973), that the government “may not induce, encourage or promote private persons to accomplish what it is constitutionally forbidden to accomplish.” That’s what Congress did by enacting Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which not only permits tech companies to censor constitutionally protected speech but immunizes them from liability if they do so.
The justices have long held that the provision of such immunity can turn private action into state action.”
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