I think that the government coming in and telling companies what they can and cannot do with their private platforms is entirely contrary to freedom of speech. What would be better is a wider array of communication platforms, for which there is a entirely different set of regulatory tools available.

Not only are they not legally obligated to uphold free speech, very few (almost zero) companies allow anyone to say whatever they wish whenever they wish.

Im still wondering why anyone expects this of youtube but would never ever expect it of the bar down the street.

> Im still wondering why anyone expects this of youtube but would never ever expect it of the bar down the street.

I haven't been in a bar where the patrons were told they couldn't discuss quack medicine.

> I haven't been in a bar where the patrons were told they couldn't discuss quack medicine.

That's over specific.

All bars (even the worst ones I could find) usually have unspoken rules about what can be discussed, until you start to talk about those subjects (eg drug dealing, weapons dealing, planned violence, etc) openly. Of course you can't effectively restrict communication between individuals, but that's also not the issue.

Maybe. I was in a Bait and Tackle shop yesterday that had a sign on the door warning of a $100 fine for speaking the word "coronavirus" inside.