Facebook is now saying it’s a publisher, when before it was saying it was a platform. The disingenuous behavior of Zuckity-Zuck and his team of slippery as snot lawyers is something the American public should not be tolerating.
It is definitely one or the other. If it’s a publisher, it has 1st Amendment rights and can censor the speech on its site. Fair enough. But if it’s a publisher then it becomes legally responsible for the content of the material on its site. So it needs to A) Pay me royalties for every read of the material I’ve put in place on their site, and B) Be sued every time speech that violates the rights of others is hosted on their site.
So let’s say Zuckity-Zuck is wrong, and Facebook really is a platform. Now they have the public square concept working for them. By that I mean that courts have actually adjudicated the matter, and say that although malls are privately owned, they are offered as public gathering places so the 1st Amendment is protected there. That said, mall owners are not responsible if someone walks through with a sign that offends everyone under the sun. See the difference?
Facebook wants to basically have their cake and eat it too, which doesn’t work. I see why they want that, but either they’re a public square or they’re a publisher. They need to firmly come down on one side or the other, and be forced by courts to stick with it.
If they’re a publisher, I eagerly await my check. At this point, since they didn’t negotiate up front for my material, I await my $1 million dollar royalty check.
If they’re a platform, I expect to receive a check for having my 1st Amendment rights violated repeatedly as I’ve expressed my views.
Either way, pay up Zuckity-Zuck.
