POL SCI 21A: Week 3 Discussion reply

I’m working on a Political Science exercise and need support.

Please reply my classmate below, and just write about 100 words. Thank you.

Student 1: Free speech and censorship on the internet, pertaining to “fake news” and other concerns regarding disinformation, has been discussed at length in recent years. Do you believe technology companies, e.g. Facebook, Google, should play a lighter or heavier role in regulating speech on the internet? Why?

I believe that big tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google should play a lighter role in regulating speech on the internet for the simple fact that everyone has different opinions and there are not a lot of places nowadays where people can express their thought openly on social media. However, it is indeed their right to censor ideas they do not agree with and do anything they want really because they are private companies; meaning they can say, do, and create anything. With that being said, they do not necessarily have to follow the rules and laws of the constitution or the right to free speech because once again, they are a private company. Unfortunately, in the world we live in today, we indeed can say whatever we want; but when it comes to using a platform, we use a private company’s platform. It would be great for them to just leave the platforms as they are and let people say whatever they want even if it does go against their beliefs. It is indeed unfair that we have to play in the hands of those companies that can alter information, delete facts, censor news, and simply ban people for posting facts that they do not agree with. And since we are not given many options when it comes to posting on social media platforms, we cannot exercise our right of free speech because we would have to follow the terms and agreements as well as the ideas of those big companies or else they will remove our posts. So yes, I do believe that big companies should be lighter in regulating free speech on the internet; but then again, its not like we have much of a choice since we are using their privately owned platforms.