The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comments on censorship that people have experienced at the hands of technology platforms. In its "Request for Public Comment," it states:
"FTC staff is interested in understanding how consumers have been harmed—including by
potentially unfair or deceptive acts or practices, or potentially unfair methods of competition—
by technology platforms that limit users’ ability to share their ideas or affiliations freely and
openly. FTC staff encourages members of the public, including current and former employees of
technology platforms, to comment on any issues or concerns that are relevant to the FTC’s
consideration of this topic."
You can read the request for comment in its entirely, including instructions for submitting comments, here: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/P251203CensorshipRFI.pdf
The deadline for submitting comments is 11:59pm ET on May 21, 2025.
The text of my comment follows.
The platform (Meetup.com) deleted my account at the request
of another user. This was done in response to my suggestion of a preparatory
reading for an upcoming meetup. My de-platforming was not in response to
off-platform activities. Meetup.com did not notify me of its actions. When I
found I couldn’t log in, I sent an email for an explanation, and was told the
opinion I had allegedly expressed by suggesting the reading was not permitted
on the platform. No countervailing benefit was claimed for my de-platforming.
It was for overtly ideological reasons.
Meetup.com’s terms of service mentioned that certain ideas
could not be expressed on the platform. Its action, however, was not in
response to my expressing any opinion on my own behalf, but merely my
suggestion of including a scholarly paper -- included as a chapter of a book from a major academic publisher -- in the preparatory readings for a
meetup. As far as I know there have been no pertinent changes to the terms of
service since I posted the suggestion that led to my deplatforming. I don’t know
how it has responded to other users who have suggested similar readings.
The representative who responded to my email made clear that
no appeal of the decision to delete my account was possible.
The effect of my account’s deletion is that I cannot discuss
political and social issues with others who are interested in such discussions,
preventing any networking with those interested in the same ideas. Although I
have also experienced deletion of accounts with Twitter and Truth Social, I
never learned the reasons for these deletions. So far, I have not found an
equivalent substitute for the networking I could have done by means of
Meetup.com.
I do not know what motivated Meetup.com to act in the way
that it did. I do not know whether having more competition would have caused
them to act differently, nor whether they have colluded with other platforms in
their censorship policy.
My view is that companies that offer their services as
communications platforms, especially if they are publicly chartered, should be
obligated to uphold users’ First Amendment rights. Any government regulation
must be viewpoint-neutral and aimed at ensuring that platforms’ policies are
also viewpoint-neutral.
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