An analogy for those confused about The First Amendment

May 28, 2020, 5:40 PM

It's astounding how many people on this board believe social media companies can suppress First Amendment rights and equate First Amendment protection from the government to their terms of service. So let me attempt to explain that in an analogy.

SCENARIO ONE
You move into a new neighborhood and decide to throw a huge house party to get to know your neighbors. You even got a keg (xtiger just bought a bunch of White Claws). Smoked a couple of pork butts. Your wife made that badass mac and cheese she makes.

Your neighbors show up one by one, and so far, you're feeling pretty good about where you just moved. All these folks seem to share a lot in common with you. They throw back a few, they seem to share a lot of your views of the world and political beliefs. That one dude has an awesome boat and he's already invited you out to go fishing next weekend.

Then Bob shows up. Bob lives four doors down. Bob is already drunk. He starts bitching about your beer selection, or telling xtiger he should have got the strawberry kiwi Claws. You overhear him calling your wife fat. Then he hears you say you support Donald Trump, and he calls you a ####### Nazi. Next, he sees your Clemson diploma and starts Spurs Upping your ###.

You throw Bob out of your house. Because #### Bob. You don't put up with that.

Did you violate Bob's First Amendment rights? Did you suppress his speech? No. Because you aren't the government, and this is your home. Bob can still go be a jack ### in the street. He won't have as large of audience, but he can still spout off his crap. No one has suppressed him.

Because it's your private home.

SCENARIO TWO
Same scenario as the first. Except this time, Bob calls the cops. And in this strange world, the cops bust in your door. They pull you aside and give you new orders.

"Alright, at this party, you have to support and tolerate all viewpoints. That means Bob gets to come back in and he can say whatever he wants about your wife or Clemson or your politics. In fact, right now, you have to ensure balance at this party or you go to jail. Equal opinions on politics must be expressed. I want to see some Gamecock flags put up right now. Go ahead and order Bob a new keg of what he likes. Again, don't do this, you go to jail. And we'll also start allowing your neighbors who aren't here to sue you if they don't think the views are balanced."

THAT, in this strange hypothetical, is a violation of your First Amendment rights. Because it's the police (government) coming into, again--say it out loud--your private home and dictating your party and what is said.

Hope this helps. Again, in summary, private corporations cannot infringe on your First Amendment rights. Only governments can. Twitter cannot suppress you. The president is attempting to suppress the free speech of private companies and their users.

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An analogy for those confused about The First Amendment

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In Scenario One, to compare it to what Twitter did...

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