Assignment task: Hello. Can you please provide an opinion statement to the below question:
Chapter 2 focuses on Constitutional Limitations on Criminal Laws. The First Amendment includes protections and guarantees that exist at the heart of democracy. The First Amendment prevents the government from restricting expression based on its ideas, subject matter, message, or content.
To what extent does the First Amendment apply to social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter? Does the constitutional free speech protection prevent Facebook and Twitter from suspending, deplatforming, and deactivating accounts or otherwise restricting access to certain users?
To what extent, if any, should protections of the First Amendment apply to private social media companies? Are social media sites "modern public squares" or simply private companies who can do what they want with their company?
When a private actor has control over online communications and online forums, do these private actors become analogous to a governmental actor?