Can a private company conduct its business in any way it wants? Follow the net neutrality debate. Many countries have legislated that service providers can not discriminate between content providers. So, legislating not to allow discrimination between speech in same vein
If net neutrality is mandated, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) (a private company) can not enter into a deal with a content provider (another private company) to provide better quality of service to its content over others or refuse 2 carry contents of other content providers
Net neutrality is mandated in countries like US, India though some loopholes exist. But broader point, private companies are required to do business as per the law of the land. So, forcing speech neutrality by Big Tech is within Govt prerogative
Our latest paper on net neutrality discusses some of these issues before delving into designing optimal strategies for participants in a non-neutral Internet ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/91024…
A recent MSM article that connects net neutrality to speech censorship in the manner I just did: wsj.com/articles/net-n… Disclaimer: I was pointed to this article after I composed the above tweets
So if the internet can be mandated to be service neutral despite the entities being all private, why can’t it be speech neutral due to entities being private ? Seems private player restriction has largely been touted as a smokescreen

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More from @sarkar_swati

4 Feb
How Meena Harris, Niece Of US VP  Kamala Harris, Opposing Indian Farm Laws, Is Becoming A Problem For White House. The Swarajyamag article is meant to mislead their readers counting on their limited knowledge of US politics. A short thread below: swarajyamag.com/world/how-meen…
Meena Harris’ aunt Kamala Harris is very close to US celebrities and Corporates. Most of the leading Democrats, particularly the California Democrats are. Meena Harris is following her aunt’s path here +
Meena Harris’ plug of Rana Ayuub is hardly a problem for White House. Rana Ayuub is the India columnist of Washington Post. WaPo had blatantly supported Biden starting from the Democratic primaries.
Read 6 tweets
3 Feb
Can a private company do whatever it wants in terms of denying service to any one ? The answer in general is no. It depends on the law of the land. The following case in US is illuminating oyez.org/cases/1940-195… Marsh vs Alabama
Marsh wanted to distribute religious literature in the public space of a small town owned entirely by a private company. The company refused to give her permission. US courts ruled in her favor.
Section 230 in US allows Big Tech to remove content without liability thehill.com/opinion/techno… The law proposed in Florida essentially negates that provision. Hope Florida succeeds
Read 4 tweets
27 Jan
BJP-RSS police in Haryana shot dead 35 Dera Saccha Sauda protesters for doing far less than what was done on 26th. Police shot to kill. Modi cheered on the police. BJP-RSS politicians said they were prepared to kill 50. Not a shriek from the left.
Correction - The left actually cheered on the act and asked why police did not do more, translated, why did they not shoot more.
Why did BJP-RSS GoI not ask the police to stop the tractors using force comparable to that for Dera ? It surrendered to the narrative. Consistency can go to hell. Govt that picks and chooses for application of lethal force deserves no support
Read 4 tweets
27 Jan
If you are comfortable with freedom of expression being stripped off, you are allied to the current seat of power - social, economic or political. You know that your views are protected. An intriguing observation next
It is documented history that Communist Govts give no freedom of expression. Here I am not referring to Communist Govts in states of India, they are no better or worse in that regard compared to other Govts. But to those in Communist nation states, eg, Russia, China etc.
Interestingly in mid 1930s in Communist backed conferences in Europe (non Russia Europe), Communists were heavily demanding FoE. They were not in power in non Russia Europe then.
Read 6 tweets
26 Jan
My definition of left. One who fights for the economic or power underdog without any consideration of other attributes - race, religion, gender etc. No public figure in India fits the bill. A small number in US fits that criteria, a vanishingly small number.
By this definition, the left would always have to be anti Corporate.
By this definition, left would have to be staunchly freedom of expression, because that is the only tool the powerless has against the powerful.
Read 4 tweets
22 Jan
There was a fire in Bagbajar, Kolkata. The legacy institution, Udbodhan, associated with Ramkrishna Mission was damaged, adjoining slum was burnt down. A week back millenniumpost.in/kolkata/rare-m… Thread:
The above report mentions that rumors floated that the Sanyasis caused fire. This is wholly untrue. What these reports don’t mention is the Sanyasis were beaten up by slum dwellers. This is a dangerous development. Who is sending goons to beat up Sanyasis in Calcutta?
The demographics of the area is mostly Hindu. There is a strong presence of local big business families there. This suggests that the rumor mongering could have been done by vested business interests, land sharks etc.
Read 4 tweets

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