Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky told Fox News Digital that while Twitter is a private company that is free to moderate content, the company could be viewed as an agent for the federal government if it is found to be taking its direction.
“The First Amendment applies to the government and prohibits censorship by government agencies and entities, not private actors,” Von Spakovsky said.
“However, when a private company is censoring information based on direction, coordination and cooperation with the government, then legally it may be considered to be acting as an agent for the government, and it may be found to be violating the First Amendment.”
Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital the Twitter Files controversy is “worse” than cases he’s previously covered regarding government and Big Tech “collusion,” because “when the FBI ‘asks’ for something, that’s pretty serious.”
George Mason University professor David Bernstein told Fox News Digital that “absent a true national security emergency, it’s inappropriate for anyone with a political role in the government to be exerting pressure or even lobbying Twitter regarding content.”
(via Lucianne)
[This to me is the real story from the Twitter Files. — Ed]
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