There comes a time in the life of any collective human endeavour when it is clear rules are needed. If we didn’t need structures to discourage lying, cheating, selfishness or outright criminality we’d be living in a utopia. But we’re not.
A Facebook-appointed independent oversight board has been pondering this unprecedented suspension and last week pronounced that the social media giant was right to suspend Trump for “maintaining an unfounded narrative of electoral fraud and persistent calls to action”, which created “an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible”.
Congress and the federal courts must finally get serious about the regulation of social media behemoths. That starts with amending the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which gives legal immunity to internet companies for any consequences from the content posted on their sites. The risk of losing big money always tends to make corporate behaviour more responsible.