Not when there’s bidirectional communication happening between govt and tech companies on these issues. We’ve seen them coordinate to erase particular stories from the public narrative etc. They literally have manipulated elections by doing this.

These companies were engaged in a covert surveillance program on behalf of intelligence agencies too. That by itself makes them effectively an extension of the state.

The only time I see rank propaganda on HN, it’s about stuff Elon Musk loves, like the blockchain or self-driving cars. I dread what he’ll do to Twitter.

Not when the government lobbies the companies for certain viewpoints.