Re:UK ditches ban on 'legal but harmful' online content in f...
by owisd on Tuesday November 29, 2022 @03:20PM
(#33792707)
I think the common carrier argument might work if the major platforms just showed you posts from the accounts you follow in reverse chronological order, but when they’re algorithmically promoting and recommending specific posts it’s more akin to readers’ letters in a newspaper, which doesn’t have any common carrier rule, they’re not obliged to print your letter and can be held accountable for the contents of letters they do print.
However, in US federal law we have carved out a nature exception for "common carriers". A telephone company can't disconnect your calls just because you're making offensive political statements or spreading medical misinformation. Some politicians and legal scholars such as Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas have suggested that Congress extend common carrier legislation to also cover social media platforms.
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/05/984440891/justice-clarence-th...