Yes, this would result in a majority of his own posts getting blocked — which is one hurt feeling. But it would let him sue big corporations that allow mean things to be posted about him and would cost these corporations massive amounts of money — that’s two things that bring Trump the most joy! -1 + 2 = 1... so it is still a win for Trump!

This has always been about giving Trump the ability to hurt anyone he feels deserves to be hurt. He knows how to play the lawsuit game to hurt his enemies — one of the only master classes that Trump University could have offered that would have been worth the fee.

Valid points. I presume Trump resents the fact that his "bully pulpit" isn't nearly AS "bully" as Twitter's.

The government censors free speech by shutting it down, and taxing, jailing, or otherwise legally sanctioning the speaker, with the force of law not opinion. You can't look elsewhere for another outlet because you're in jail, or have moved to another country to escape the censorship. Not the same as being banned from Twitter.

If Trump is thrown off of Twitter on January 21, his right of free speech hasn't been infringed in the slightest. He just can't speak on Twitter, that's all. Sure, he finds Twitter valuable and convenient to him and his political agenda, but his right to free speech means he just has to find a more amenable social media network, or start his own.

You're so close to target on the pledge drive!.

Somebody, please chip in a little to keep this fine site commercial free!

It seems to me that either you or I are/am misunderstanding/misinterpreting the Sec 230 thing. The Wikipedia article on Sec 230 says, Section 230 provides protection from liability for internet providers in the removal of material deemed offensive, even if protected as 1st amendment free speech, "AS LONG AS IT IS DONE IN GOOD FAITH".

But you say "Only gov'ts can censor free speech", and "Private companies do not have the power (to censor free speech) and never have".

Do you not see a contradiction there? I'm guessing that what Trump wants to do is eliminate the ability of Facebook and Twitter to censor his stuff by claiming they're doing it "in good faith", obviously implying that he considers their efforts to be in "bad faith", and he does seem to have a valid point there.

I agree!

Well, I actually wouldn't want to see FB go completely away. But, it could be a very pleasant place for people like me who use it only to share and chat about/with music and musicians ... and the like. The rest of it and all of twitter can go away.

Not trolling, mind you, just in case stupid rubs off, and I would say you can't imagine the insanity of most of the Trumpanzies. Except...alas, you can imagine.*sigh*

Many of the Breitbartians believe Fox News has went full-on Communist. Really, I think that's an insult to Communism.

A little lite research indicates that Repugs have tried to alter or revoke Sec. 230 going back before this last minute imbroglio because they claim that social media is somehow"unfair" to Conservatives. So the sentiment is not new.

But #MoscowMitch introduced legislation in the Senate today to do just that. IMO this is a "poison pill" maneuver on his part to Scotch the $1,400 add-on to the second stimulus check of $600. We can't have a decent stimulus that would help Joe Biden with the American economy, can we?

What a douchebag.

And alas, we still have 2 days, 4 hours and half a minute -- Left Coast Time* -- to do something stupider in 2020. As I warned previously, "We ain't out of the woods yet!"

*Or, as I like to tease my BFF who lives in Cleveland, LBT. Which means LeBron Time, as he's now an LA Laker.

At least I think he's still my BFF

Surely the conservative media mavens can see that, even if Trump can't - they (like most people) are a lot smarter than he when it comes to gaming out future consequences of flashy attention-getting statements.

I'm not so sure that we can make that assumption, currently. Ahem.

Because I've long seen the consequences in the same terms as you do here. Legal liability for the platform means good-bye to almost any wild-eyed political or social discourse, of whatever stripe. Surely the conservative media mavens can see that, even if Trump can't - they (like most people) are a lot smarter than he when it comes to gaming out future consequences of flashy attention-getting statements.