Thanks to Eugene for inviting me to guest-blog this week about my new article, The Five Internet Rights. The article endeavors to answer the (internet) age-old question: When, if ever, should the law intervene into how private entities moderate lawful online user content?
This question has taken center stage as debates rage over the proper role of social media companies in policing online speech. For example, Twitter's decision to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story alarmed many people about the power large platforms exercise, or could exercise, over the dissemination of news and, thus, over electoral outcomes. It also spurred Florida to pass a law that attempts to prevent social media companies from discriminating against "journalistic enterprises."
Similarly, social media companies' decision to prevent users from discussing the COVID "lab leak" theory—a decision they later reversed after the theory achieved mainstream status—caused many to wonder if social media companies may be hamstringing the search for truth by arrogating to themselves the power to determine what constitutes valid scientific inquiry. It too generated a legislative response—this time, from Texas, which went even further by prohibiting social media companies from discriminating against any users based on their viewpoints.
