In response to " Our First Amendment rights have been violated " by Gaylynn Becker:
Gaylynn Becker clearly does not understand the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Even though he quotes it correctly, he misses that the constraint is against the government punishing us for our speech, while placing no constraint on private individuals or corporations. Were Becker to read the Terms of Service of the websites he alleges are violating his free speech rights, he would see that Facebook reserves the right to limit speech (writings, pictures, or otherwise) that it finds objectionable or that is illegal.
Becker also misunderstands the protections that Section 230 provides to internet service providers - it holds them harmless from civil liability for content posted by their users, so long as the provider (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) moderates and removes illegal material in a timely manner. Were Section 230 protections repealed, as Becker wishes, providers would suddenly become civilly liable for all content posted by their users, resulting in immediate permanent bans for posting content that even remotely puts them at risk of lawsuits.
Those who object to Section 230 protections should be careful what they wish for.
Ryan T. Jensen lives in Moorhead.
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