The real problem is not so much that they can do this, which is of course entirely legal, but that a few companies have such concentrated market power. People seem to regard Twitter as some kind of essential service, but it's just fucking Twitter. In the days when there were dozens of book publishers just in New York, if one turned you down, you could go somewhere else. Now there's four.
I mean, it's actually kind of nuts to consider that Twitter has somehow 'silenced' President [expletive deleted], when he still has a whole press corps at his disposal and could call a press conference at any moment.
> The real problem is not so much that they can do this, which is of course entirely legal...
Not "entirely" legal. All these companies claim to be neutral, and while I think they genuinely try to be, for various reasons they aren't able to stick to that standard.
The point of contracts is that you give up certain rights. On Monday, I can't sleep in all day because I've got an agreement to work. I have to set aside some money for rent because I signed a lease.
What these companies are doing may be legal in practice, because of the difficulties in litigating, but it's never entirely legal to make promises and then break them, whether they're through contracts, terms, or even marketing claims and advertisements.
When they make those claims, they voluntarily give up their right to say anything they like. Being able to give a right up is part of having it in the first place.
Twitter could change their terms to say, "we will ban or block people we have political differences with, or when bad PR is making us feel uncomfortable." Then banning people for those reasons would be 100% legal, because they would have reserved that right.
Agreed, I just can't take Twitter seriously. I can see it's value for quick and cheap communication but it's always seemed like more of a quaint narcissistic toy...
I'm pretty darn cynical about social media in general though and I know my views are in the minority.
I mean, it's actually kind of nuts to consider that Twitter has somehow 'silenced' President [expletive deleted], when he still has a whole press corps at his disposal and could call a press conference at any moment.