Social Media vs The First Amendment

Social media is rising in its reach of communicating with people all over the world. On private social media the owners have more control over what people can post because the first amendment is not as present. When the company is owned privately, they have the right to censor things they want on their website. In this article, they believe that the first amendment should be stretch over those private companies, meaning that people should be able to post whatever they want, without the company being able to remove it. I personally disagree with this. When you sign onto a private social media platform, the rules are stated clearly at the beginning. If you agree to those terms, you should not be surprised if your post gets taken down for breaking the terms and agreements. 

However, I understand why people want the first amendment to cover privately owned companies such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (etc.). They want this because they are used to being able to speak their minds, regardless of the impact it has on others. Since the first amendment applies to government, on public sights, people can say whatever they want. However, people think that agreeing to the terms, does not apply to them. They think that since it is their account, they should be free to speak as they please. 

This is where I disagree, since people say hurtful and untrue things on the internet on a regular basis. The terms are what keep people from going too far, and I disagree with the article. The terms and agreements are there for a reason, and therefore the first amendment should not stretch over privately-owned companies on the internet. They should have the right to censor as they please. 

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/the-ongoing-challenge-to-define-free-speech/in-the-age-of-socia-media-first-amendment/