Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas warned Monday (April 5) that the day is coming when social media companies will face liquidation.
Thomas warned Big Tech on Monday that the high court – and even Congress – could soon have to step in and settle social media companies, according to the Washington times “that regulate free speech “at any time, for any reason or no reason at all.
Thomas made the comments in the Supreme Court’s opinion dismissing a case alleging that former President Donald Trump blocked user interaction on Twitter.
Justice Thomas’ opinion reads, “As Twitter clearly demonstrates, the right to deny free speech is held most powerfully in the hands of private digital platforms.” “The importance of that power for First Amendment purposes, and the extent to which it can be lawfully modified, raises interesting and important questions.”
The George H.W. Bush appointee said digital platforms provide “an unprecedented amount of speech,” but that control over that speech is “concentrated” in the hands of private companies.
Justice Thomas wrote: “We will soon have no choice but to address the question of how our legal principles will apply to highly centralized private information infrastructures such as digital platforms.”
The Supreme Court reversed a ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that sided with people who sued Trump when he was president, alleging that he violated the First Amendment by blocking their, interactions on his Twitter account.
The appeals court ruling was based on the fact that Trump is a government official whose account is a public forum and not under his private control, and therefore critics should have the right to view and interact with his account.
The Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the lawsuit because Trump left office on Jan. 20.
But Judge Thomas said the Second Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling is inconsistent with the complete regulation of speech by Twitter, which even banned Trump from the social platform altogether.
“It seems odd to say that a private company is a public forum when it has the unfettered power to block certain people,” Judge Thomas wrote. “The disparity between Twitter’s control of speech and Mr. Trump’s control is striking, to say the least. Mr. Trump has blocked several people from interacting with his message. And Twitter not only banned Mr. Trump from interacting with a handful of users, it removed him from the entire platform.”
He said, “Today’s digital platforms provide avenues for an unprecedented number of vocalizations, including speeches by government officials.”
Justice Thomas wrote that when the government controls the field, courts have typically held that government officials violate their First Amendment rights. But when social media companies do so, that no longer seems to be an issue.
He noted that Twitter has the absolute power to block anyone at any time, and suggested that in the future it may be necessary to treat social media companies differently and require them to serve everyone.
He said lawmakers could pass legislation requiring social media companies to comply with public facilities laws. He also mentioned, as an example, wire services, which “must serve all customers equally.”
Congress provided social media platforms with protection from civil liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields companies from being sued for publishing third-party information.
However, Justice Thomas said that Congress did not “reinforce its responsibilities, such as not discriminating, which is important.”
Justice Thomas wrote: “If part of the problem is private, centralized control over publicly available online content and platforms, then part of the solution can be found in the doctrine of limiting the exclusive rights of private companies.”
Twitter shut down Trump’s account indefinitely after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. At the time, he had more than 88 million followers.
Republican lawmakers have often threatened to eliminate Section 230, which enables social media companies to exempt themselves from liability, saying the tech giant companies block conservative speech.
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene became a new target of Twitter’s attacks on Easter Sunday (April 4). She said Twitter told her they accidentally blocked her account when she posted the “He is risen” tweet.
Everyone knew it was a lie, it wasn’t a mistake,” she said. What is curious is whether Twitter ever ‘mistakenly’ suspended @louisfarrakhan’s account? Or his followers who wanted to kill the police?” . She was referring to the controversial Islamic State activist.
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