One of the most basic principles endemic to conservatism is the idea that the government cannot legally suppress our freedom of speech. But there is a handful of conservatives out there who think our right to free speech also applies to âpublicâ social media platforms which are owned by private corporations like Facebook and Google. This group of conservatives (which is hopefully a minority) is calling for government regulation on social media companies in an effort to forbid censorship of conservative views on those platforms. They are attempting to justify this agenda by claiming that these are âpublicâ forums, and therefore everyone who participates has the right to expression that is free from censorship on the part of the owners of the platforms.
Newsflash: this position is a shining example of pure hypocrisy.
What is free speech? The First Amendment says Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. It is important to note that to regulate something is to abridge it. If this wasnât true, regulating it would be an incoherent waste of time. Regulating content involves imposing limits on it on the basis of avoiding certain outcomes supposedly produced by the unabridged practice of free speech. The only speech that the government can prohibit is speech that places people in direct imminent danger, such as clear calls for violence against someone or falsely yelling âfireâ in a crowded movie theater. But prohibiting that kind expression has nothing to do with abridging free speech. Itâs illegal because it violates other laws against inflicting harm on others without justification.
But free speech is more than just the freedom to say what you want to say. It is also about the freedom to refrain from saying what you donât want to say. So if the government forced a citizen to say âthe president is to be worshipped above all other godsâ against their will, that is as much a violation of freedom of speech as suppressing free expression would be. Why? Because the government would be enforcing a form of thought control, which is fundamentally what freedom of speech is really about. Freedom of speech is actually a slightly misleading phrase. The real nature of freedom of speech is freedom of thought. The only reason a government would ever suppress speech is
So to apply these principles evenly across the board, we must immediately acknowledge that if the government prohibited censorship of conservative views on social media platforms that are owned by people who disagree with those views, it would be forcing them to allow content they donât want on their privately owned platforms against their will. Remember what we said above about freedom of speech
From a purely moral perspective, anyone can do whatever they please with their private property as long as they donât inflict physical harm on their fellows or violate someone elseâs rights. They can sell their products and services (or make them available) to whomever they wish, and they can refrain from the sameâfor any reason. So when Google suppresses conservative content on YouTube, are they violating the rights of conservatives? Arenât they violating our right to free speech? The answer is no. Remember what free speech in this country is all about: Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. Google is not
If we conservatives think we can use government force to make a private company post our views, then we must also endorse the government forcing Jack Phillips to bake a cake for a gay wedding. There is no difference.
When Google censors conservative content, they arenât taking away a lick of our rights. We can speak in the public square until weâre blue in the face and neither Google nor the government can stop us. Google is not the public square, ladies and gentlemen. The sooner we get that through our heads, the better. The idea that lots of people in public society post content on YouTube does not make it a âpublicâ forum in the sense that it is subject to Constitutional restraints. The Constitution is the law the government must obey. Itâs not law U.S. citizens or private corporations must obey. Failure to recognize this distinction is to fail to comprehend what the Constitution
Some conservatives have asked the question, âare you cool with business owners refusing to let black people sit at a lunch counter?â This kind of question canât be answered with a simple âyesâ or âno.â True conservative principles on the part of people with integrity demand we endorse the use of private property at the discretion of the owner. If thatâs not the case, the
There are some conservatives out there who canât differentiate between things that are unloving, unethical, and unlawful. Refusing to serve a black person at a privately-owned diner just because theyâre black can without question be cruel and unloving. But itâs possible for something to be unloving, but not unethical or unlawful. The government canât force us to love our neighbor. As soon as it does, it has wandered into darkness and evil. Itâs unloving for Google to silence conservatives. But itâs not unlawful, and itâs not unethical. If conservatives wanted to start a social media platform of our own, our cry of âfoulâ would be loud enough to break glass if the government forced us to post anti-conservative views on it. Now, since conservative principles involve fostering open discussion where all competing ideas are given a fair hearing, conservatives are generally more likely to post content they donât agree with. But doing so under government force is another matter. We would insist that it must be voluntary on our part based on the fact that the platform is our private property. Why in the world would we want to be so hypocritical as to endorse the government taking away those rights from our liberal brothers and sisters? We rightly criticize liberals for saying âfreedom for me but not for thee.â To their shame, some conservatives are saying exactly the same thing.