> These massive websites/broadcast SMS cannot have it both ways. They cannot seek the protections of being "critical infrastructure" of any sort, common carrier, public forum, etc. and then, at the same time, disable user accounts for any reason just like any other private website.
It's never been proposed that platforms like Twitter become common carriers. That designation was intended for the layer beneath them, ISPs.
I agree that allowing that layer, ISPs, to effectively monopolize content via regional monopolies and ever-growing media conglomerates is problematic. Now they're implementing zero rating in broadband and that means there's a high bar for starting the next Netflix, Twitter etc. If you're not already part of that club you'll have to be super wealthy or take on huge debt from existing tech/wealth dominance just to get your foot in the door.
We really need to encourage competition at the ISP level in order to allow for competition among services like Twitter.
And ISPs were not common carriers until they were. It was only meant for the layer underneath them: telcos. The world changes and we should not be stuck with the technology of the 80s until the end of time.
They were until 2003 when they were classified as information services. The FCC then enforced net neutrality rules by penalizing ISPs whenever they broke them until 2014 when court ruled that if ISPs are under Title I, the FCC has no control over them. In 2015 FCC reclassified them back as Title II, in 2017/2018 Pai reclassified back to Title I, but multiple states (I know that at least California and Washington) implemented their own net neutrality laws.
I used Facebook in 2006 and it already was taking over MySpace. I don't know where you got 2015 from, because how ISPs are treated has no impact on social media.
It's never been proposed that platforms like Twitter become common carriers. That designation was intended for the layer beneath them, ISPs.
I agree that allowing that layer, ISPs, to effectively monopolize content via regional monopolies and ever-growing media conglomerates is problematic. Now they're implementing zero rating in broadband and that means there's a high bar for starting the next Netflix, Twitter etc. If you're not already part of that club you'll have to be super wealthy or take on huge debt from existing tech/wealth dominance just to get your foot in the door.
We really need to encourage competition at the ISP level in order to allow for competition among services like Twitter.