Teddy Roosevelt was a true old school progressive who recognized that as long as we have international politics and government, there will never be a 100% free market. Corporations receive charters from the government that already grant certain benefits sole proprietorships, partnerships and co-ops don’t enjoy. Furthermore as corporations grow they gain more insider advantages into governments at every level. It’s the job of true Republicans to ensure the market resembles a free market. If a country is using indentured servitude and slavery, for example, then a government has compromised the market. So the job of Republicans is to then look into how the market would operate if the country was using free labor. Hence why I support Trump’s international actions. Right now these companies are getting the protections of both platforms and publishers. So then short of making a press announcement, how can anyone sue for defamation? They’ve also misrepresented their products for years by each having people testify that their companies aren’t culling information based on politics. Many people invested years and money into their products based on these assumptions.
The difference between true progressive politics and the left is just this: true progressives like Teddy only use regulations to correct for problems existing government causes either directly or indirectly. Government creates a funneling effect for the largest corporations so we need to ensure they aren’t acting predatory against mid and small sized companies. The left wants regulations to move the market away from its intention as an open means of trading freely without coercion.
I can’t stand Senator Warren but I’m 100% behind breaking up Alphabet and inserting free speech regulations for all multi-billion dollar media enterprises. If you want to be a political publisher, you should be liable for lawsuits. Obviously YouTube and Facebook would never want that since their business structure is used by a billion people so then they should not be able to ban legal political speech in exchange for not being liable for content creators’ claims.
Free speech is more than just about the first amendment although I do believe there’s a solid first amendment argument here since Congress explicitly granted these companies exemptions. Free speech is a cultural battle for the soul of the free world. Do we let people say offensive speech without destroying their lives, their employer, and their family– or do we use mob justice to stifle anything mildly uncomfortable according to current PC sensibilities?