Censorship On and By Social Media Platforms – Legal Reader
Social media platforms have the obligation to permit equal access to all perspectives. And, people, as well as companies, should be free to air out their views regarding a particular matter.
The Internet is an ideal platform for sharing and exchanging ideas. People and organizations use social media platforms for various things such as debate forums, disseminating values, and social media censorship among other things.
Censor political speech
As the presidential elections approach, there are frequent and urgent calls for government regulations which proscribe social media platforms from censoring political speech. The majority of these calls presume that government regulations will not encroach on the First Amendments rights of the platforms as they are only platforms and not publishers.
However, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, private social media platforms can systematize the speech on their platforms as they have similar First Amendment rights to private publishers. Hence, any government regulation which prohibits the authority of a platform to censor speech will indeed lead to viewpoint censorship thereby violating the First Amendment rights of the platform.
Usual government regulations
The censorship powers of social media platforms are not beyond the reach of government regulations. The government should consider adopting due process regulations which necessitate that platforms implement clear rules regarding the speech that they ought not to allow on the platform and protect against the arbitrary execution of these rules on users. In comparison to regulations which forbid platforms censoring authority, due process regulations can withstand First Amendment challenges because they do not inhibit platforms from controlling the viewpoints that people express on these platforms.
Do they have the right to censor?
The First Amendment provides exemplary protection which inhibits the government from limiting your right to manifest your viewpoint(s). Apart from controlling government regulations, it also protects against various types of censorship, for example, forms of compelled speech and speech restrictions set in grants conditions. So, platforms have the right to censor.
Due process regulations are different
Despite the ability of the First Amendment to limit government censorship, the government can still address the dangers of biased platforms. Due process regulations are different as they do require platforms to modify their message, hence their ability to withstand First Amendment difficulties. Furthermore, due process regulations address most of the concerns that people raise. And, these regulations enable users to know the rules earlier so that they can develop content that complies with these rules.
Kinds of censorship
As aforementioned, there are various kinds of censorship that the First Amendment protects against. Coming up with an essay on a political topic can be challenging. But, with professional assistance from Essay Kitchen, drafting an outstanding and impeccable article will not be an issue.
What can we do?
Social media platforms have the obligation to permit equal access to all perspectives. And, people, as well as companies, should be free to air out their views regarding a particular matter. Furthermore, the First Amendment protects against the intervention of the government in limiting your ability to express your thoughts and opinions. Hence, people should say no to government regulations that censor social media. The government should not control what people say and how they say it.
In conclusion, there should be no restrictions on how people choose to express their views and share their ideas. The First Amendment aids in limiting government censorship and people should embrace it.
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Censorship On and By Social Media Platforms - Legal Reader
- Theres One More Thing Tearing the Trans-Atlantic Alliance Apart. Its Coming to a Head This Weekend. - Slate - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- Opinion | At the University of Minnesota, neutrality has become censorship - Star Tribune - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- FTC Continues to Confuse Free Expression and Censorship as It Threatens Apple News - Cato Institute - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- Putin accused of total censorship after blocking WhatsApp - The Times - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- FIRE sues Bondi, Noem for censoring Facebook group and app reporting ICE activity - FIRE | Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
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- Russia Escalates Internet Censorship Removing YouTube and WhatsApp From National Domain System - UNITED24 Media - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- Serbia: Coordinated bot attacks on Instagram accounts of independent media emerge as new weapon of censorship - ipi.media - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- Platforms bend over backward to help DHS censor ICE critics, advocates say - Ars Technica - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- Frances censorship of voices calling out international complicity with genocide - Middle East Monitor - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- Banning social media is a kneejerk reaction that should be resisted - Index on Censorship - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- Handei follows Heraskevych into Olympic censorship - Inside The Games - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- Hafta 576 : Cinema, censorship and the crisis in Parliament - Newslaundry - February 14th, 2026 [February 14th, 2026]
- India cuts takedown window to three hours for YouTube, Meta, X and others - BBC - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- Peter MacKinnon: University censorship is out of control - National Post - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- How Elite Colleges Aided Censorship During the Red Scares - Inside Higher Ed - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- Twin Cities artists grapple with censorship in a time of turmoil - MinnPost - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- Trump Admin Sued Over Censorship Of ICE-Reporting App, Facebook Group 02/12/2026 - MediaPost - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- Spain considers banning teens from social media and holding tech executives criminally responsible for hate speech - FIRE | Foundation for Individual... - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- PEN America, 36 Organizational Partners, Call on Texas A&M to Rescind Censorship Policies - PEN America - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- Sour Bangkok uses censorship to ignite national conversation for Girl from Nowhere The Reset - Campaign Brief Asia - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- FAMU Says Censoring the Word Black Was a Mistake - Inside Higher Ed - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- Ego Nwodim Wont Be Censoring Herself to Host the 2026 Spirit Awards - The Hollywood Reporter - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- Nidhi Razdan on Fear, Self-censorship, and the Newsroom Today - Frontline Magazine - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- Censorship and Governance: The Modern Assault on Higher Education - The EDU Ledger - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- AI three-hour takedown rule: When speed becomes the censor - The Federal - February 11th, 2026 [February 11th, 2026]
- TikTok creators flock to UpScrolled app after U.S. takeover. Here's why - CBC - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Was I scared going back to China? No: Ai Weiwei on AI, western censorship and returning home - The Guardian - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Fact check: Is the EU censoring Americans and meddling in elections? - Euronews.com - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- US to fund free speech initiatives in Europe, Trump official says - The Straits Times - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- NBC censors Green Day Super Bowl performance, days after band tells ICE agents to quit - Washington Times - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Fight Leftist Indoctrination in Higher Education Without Censorship - American Enterprise Institute - AEI - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- The European Censorship Files and Americas Allies - Hungarian Conservative - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Ai Weiwei: Returning Home, Censorship, and the Age of Surveillance - Gazeta Express - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Video. Fact check: Is the EU censoring Americans and meddling in elections? - Euronews.com - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Ice Out for Good: Art and censorship in the Minnesota snow - MPR News - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Corruption trial to reporter arrests. We're ambling toward censorship | Goshay - Canton Repository - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- A company that rates news sites says the Trump administration is strangling it - The Washington Post - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Discord's Going To Censor Your Account Unless You Provide ID Or Face Scan - SlashGear - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Ai Weiwei on China, the West and shrinking space for dissent - Reuters - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Ai Weiwei on China, the West and shrinking space for dissent - The Japan Times - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Revealing the Structural: Censorship and Discrimination with Art by Yafang Shi - blogTO - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Journalists as well as generals have been purged only Xi is safe in China today - Index on Censorship - February 9th, 2026 [February 9th, 2026]
- Researchers say no evidence of TikTok censorship, but they remain wary - NPR - February 4th, 2026 [February 4th, 2026]
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- Finnish Parliamentarian on trial for Bible tweet testifies before U.S. Congress: "European censorship is a worldwide concern - Alliance Defending... - February 4th, 2026 [February 4th, 2026]
- Countries using internet blackouts to boost censorship: Proton - Yahoo - February 4th, 2026 [February 4th, 2026]
- EU lawmakers urge probe of TikTok for alleged censorship linked to Epstein content - Anadolu Ajans - February 4th, 2026 [February 4th, 2026]
- Censorships Deadly Grip On Whistleblowers: The Tragic Story Of Li Wenliang OpEd - Eurasia Review - February 4th, 2026 [February 4th, 2026]
- How Universities and States Are Increasing Surveillance of Professors - The New York Times - February 4th, 2026 [February 4th, 2026]
- Texas A&M Stakes Out Turf as the Epicenter of Higher Education Censorship - PEN America - February 4th, 2026 [February 4th, 2026]
- Video. Russia's war in Ukraine: Are AI chatbots censoring the truth? - Euronews.com - February 4th, 2026 [February 4th, 2026]
- "Dispatch" devs apologize after fan confusion over censorship on the Nintendo Switch: "This is 100% our mistake" - The Daily Dot - February 4th, 2026 [February 4th, 2026]
- JUDICIARY GOP DROPS EU CENSORSHIP BOMBSHELL The documents, obtained and released by The House Judiciary Committee, show the EU has been pressuring... - February 4th, 2026 [February 4th, 2026]
- Opinion | Texas vs. Plato: Censorship in the Academy - The New York Times - February 2nd, 2026 [February 2nd, 2026]
- Its really sad: US TikTok users rethink app over concerns about privacy and censorship - The Guardian - February 2nd, 2026 [February 2nd, 2026]
- Dispatch Dev Says Players "Are Right To Be Pissed" Over Nintendo Censorship - IGN Daily Fix - IGN - February 2nd, 2026 [February 2nd, 2026]
- Chappell Roan's Nipple Ring Dress and the Absurdity of Instagram's Nudity Censorship - Allure - February 2nd, 2026 [February 2nd, 2026]
- TikTok Says Its Weeklong Data Center Outage Is Resolved After Glitches Triggered Censorship Allegations - Forbes - February 2nd, 2026 [February 2nd, 2026]
- Why US TikTok Users Are Deleting the App Amid Censorship, Glitches, and Privacy Fears - Tech Times - February 2nd, 2026 [February 2nd, 2026]
- Finnish Parliamentarian on Trial for Bible Tweet to Testify Before U.S. Congress on Europes Growing Censorship Regime - Alliance Defending Freedom... - February 2nd, 2026 [February 2nd, 2026]
- AdHoc Promises To Address "At Least Some" Censorship For Dispatch On The Switch 2 In The Future - gameranx.com - February 2nd, 2026 [February 2nd, 2026]
- Why TikToks first week of American ownership was a disaster - The Guardian - February 2nd, 2026 [February 2nd, 2026]
- What the US TikTok takeover is already revealing about new forms of censorship | Paolo Gerbaudo - The Guardian - February 1st, 2026 [February 1st, 2026]
- The future of Irans internet connectivity is still bleak, even as weeks-long blackout begins to lift - CNN - February 1st, 2026 [February 1st, 2026]
- The arrest of Don Lemon is blatant censorship. And he is not the only one | Seth Stern - The Guardian - February 1st, 2026 [February 1st, 2026]
- Nintendo's censorship of Dispatch is the definition of unserious - App Trigger - February 1st, 2026 [February 1st, 2026]
- A 19-year-old takes on tech giants: Why product liability may succeed where censorship failed - The Sunday Guardian - February 1st, 2026 [February 1st, 2026]
- Orb: On the Movements of the Earth and its Parallels with Present-Day Censorship - Anime Herald - February 1st, 2026 [February 1st, 2026]
- Fighting back against Texas wave of censorship - FIRE | Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]
- Nintendo comments on the censorship of Dispatch on Switch and Switch 2 - Instant Gaming News - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]
- Dispatch is censored on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and this might be the reason why - Video Games Chronicle - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]
- "The core narrative and gameplay experience remains identical" AdHoc reassures Dispatch players on Switch as it confirms Nintendo platform... - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]
- Midnight and Spacecoin partner to secure online conversations against censorship, surveillance, and privacy threats - Satellite Evolution - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]
- Newsom to probe claims of Trump-critical censorship at TikTok - Politico - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]
- Players are returning their Dispatch copies due to Switch censorship - Polygon - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]
- Students, faculty and more hold rally at Texas A&M to protest course cancelations, 'censorship' on campus - kcentv.com - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]
- TikTok faces app deletions, censorship claims and glitches in days after its ownership change - AP News - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]
- PSA: Dispatch's 'Visual Censorship' Settings Can't Be Removed On Switch - Nintendo Life - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]
- Censorship and the Ratchet Effect: Threats to Free Speech Outlast Supposed Crises - The Daily Economy - January 30th, 2026 [January 30th, 2026]