The Biden Fiasco and the Blatant Censoring of Online Commentary

 Well, I think this time Facebook and Twitter have really done it. I really think they have signed their own death warrants. 

They are openly and blatantly refusing to even countenance publication in any form of the accusations laid out by the New York Post regarding Biden, his son and Ukraine. Or even any commentary on the accusations.

Now, here comes the killer blow for those "platforms". If they are censoring content, if they are actively suppressing even commentary of the accusations, then they must fear a lawsuit for doing so. In that case they are thinking like publishers. They are acting like publishers. They are publishers, not platforms. 

The distinction is complete and therefore previous "platforms" given immunity under section 230 of the CDA does not apply because they are now thinking and acting like publishers. 

Which then opens the gleeful opportunities for citizens to sue said former platforms/now publishers for the laws that apply to publishers: defamation, libel etc.

You cannot have the ability to act like a publisher without de facto being a publisher. If you act think, edit, suppress and manipulate content like a publisher, then you are a publisher. If you think and therefore act like a publisher, then you already accept the fact. Whether the entity doing the publishing is a person or a corporation, there is no difference. 

The opportunity to sue arises merely because in can be argued in court that the "platforms" are no longer acting as such. By there mere actions, they become de facto publishers and lose section 230 immunity.

I'm rubbing my hands now waiting for the first big lawsuit to drop.

Facebook and Twitter, by their actions have opened themselves to this. Jack Dorsey has realised this and has gone on record trying to justify the censorship: it's not proven, the information was obtained illegally, yadda-yadda, even using the usual management weasel-word phrases like "we didn't communicate correctly". It doesn't matter. A platform would not censor and suppress on any grounds other than possibly public safety. 

The Biden revelations do not constitute public safety and there are grounds for public interest arguments in defence of allowing commentary on them.

These so-called platforms were on shaky ground previously. I think this is the final nail in the coffin for any protections availed to them under section 230.