Comment by Larrikin
6 hours ago
TikTok is blocking upload of ICE videos and Facebook is blocking posts with information about the ICE agents. Amazon just paid millions of dollars to put out a movie nobody wants about Donalds wife. Every major tech company paid millions of dollars for Donalds library at the beginning of all this for "the library"
The surveillance non state actors are already doing anything this administration wants.
This isn't a counterpoint. The philosophical reason the state doing something is worse than a private company doing the exact same thing is that the state can imprison, bankrupt, and execute you. TikTok can't.
The argument isn't that it's good these companies are doing this - it's not. The argument is that it would be even worse if the state was doing it directly. There are more avenues to stop, nullify, and avoid this when it's a private enterprise than when it's the state.
You're arguing a point that may have been relevant in Donald's first term. All of the companies mentioned are positioning themselves to be state sanctioned in a way that makes them effectively parts of the government. If we don't get a "third" term then your argument becomes relevant again and I agree.