Comment by generj
5 years ago
The 1st Amendment does not apply to private platforms, except perhaps if Twitter was denying access on protected attributes (race, gender, etc).
Anyone can be sued for any reason. It is extremely unlikely a suit against Twitter for moderation will succeed. In theory they have the legal ability to remove all GOP politicians, knitters, or fast food companies from their platform.
The newest Executive Order about Section 230 means the FTC can enforce anytime Twitter doesn’t follow their own stated policies. So Twitter will just adjust their policies to give themselves more latitude. Even this is legally murky and will take years to be resolved in court.
Here is a very recent (likely put out due to this as it's not a full opinion) ruling on the topic: https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/05/27/facebook-twitter-a...
"Freedom Watch's First Amendment claim fails because it does not adequately allege that the Platforms can violate the First Amendment. In general, the First Amendment 'prohibits only governmental abridgment of speech,'" the court wrote, citing a previous opinion issued by the D.C. Court of Appeals. The judges went on to say that "'a private entity who provides a forum for speech is not transformed by that fact alone into a state actor.'"