Social Media giants are like Railroads running
on a single national RR track network (the Internet/Telecom Spectrum) which the government licenses and regulates for the good of its citizens
The track, rails, bridges and tunnels are the components
operated by the multitude of networking infrastructure service providers but the paths (right of way) cannot be impeded
Each RR gets subsidies, or legal protections worth millions
(The platform vs publisher protection)
Each RR is unique and offers utility (an efficient monopoly)
that took decades and Capital to develop applications that an
individual or group of users can’t easily replicate
When Twitter or Google or FB or Reddit ban or limit you or your
access for your opinions it is as surely as if a RR line banned you
From travel on the basis of color race or creed. When they do that,
and also opine (“Fact Check”) they void the legal conditions they
agreed to operate under. Furthermore when they promote specific
political views and candidates or limit /ban/ denigrate the opposing view
they are providing in kind political support
It’s not like shopping at Safeway and going
to Trader Joe’s instead. It’s like living in a town
that has one market, one home improvement, one auto
store and one pharmacy. There may be some
overlap but each has a monopoly position and you need most or
all
Utilities are efficient monopolies that provide
essential service “dial tone” but when Twitter
bans / blocks you it’s like the phone co. Saying you can’t
speak about such and such a topic