Yes, social media should be able to censor:

Junior Diya Hegde is involved in politics and keeps herself updated through social media and news websites. Hegde said she believes that social media sites should be able to censor certain posts to a degree. 

Why do you believe social media should be able to censor what people post there?

There is a balance between free speech and over-censorship, and I think censorship is important when your speech is causing harm to other people. We need to know the limits of free speech. You can’t yell fire in a theater, so if you are on social media garnering support for illegal or dangerous activities, then it is very valid to censor that.  

Is censorship on social media a violation of our First Amendment rights?

Whenever what we post harms other people, it is not violating the First Amendment to censor. But if you are just saying your opinions on politics or current issues, and that is to be censored then that would be a violation. 

Is there a certain incident that comes to mind when you think about social media censoring politics?

I think of President Donald Trump on Twitter, and how he garnered a lot of support from the Proud Boys and white extremist groups on social media.

Why is social media an important tool when campaigning for elections?

About 20 to 30 years ago, to have a successful campaign you needed connections or money. With social media, politicians are able to access constituents without needing those things, so social media really evened the playing field. 

No, Social media should not be able to censor 

Junior Hayden Marchant is invested in politics and making sure speech is not censored. Marchant said she believes that social media is important to politics, especially in today’s day and age, but she thinks that any social media platform should not be able to censor posts.

Why do you believe that social media should not be able to censor what people post there?

Social media is a public platform for the purpose of spreading and sharing information. Even if someone has offensive views, the question is: offensive to who? Who gets to decide what speech is offensive? Only illegal postings should be taken down and censored, not just posts the platform does not agree with. I believe that the answer to speech you don’t agree with is more speech, not censorship.

Is censorship a violation of First Amendment rights?

In general, censoring and removing content on a social media platform is a violation of our First Amendment rights. Although social media companies are not the government, they are the new “public square” and the courts have said that means speech is protected. No matter what we are discussing (as long as it is not illegal), anyone has the right to share their opinion and post whatever they like. Typically, content from the conservative or Republican point of view is taken down, censored or blocked much more than content from the left, which skews viewers’ opinions and does not always show them all of the facts available.

Is there a certain incident that comes to mind when you think about social media censoring politics?

During Covid, social media platforms removed many comments and questions that later turned out to be true. Including content about masks and vaccines. 

Why or why not is social media an important tool when campaigning for elections?

Social media is a very important tool because it allows direct interaction with candidates and removes the media filter from the process.