> The reason why we want governments not to censor and control our speech is because they have so much power.
Specifically, the kind of power represented by the monopoly on legitimate use of force, which means their censorship obstructs the marketplace of ideas in which private actors decide which views to express and relay and success is by persuasion that the ideas are valid and should be adopted and relayed by others.
> Businesses have this level of power now.
No, they don't, except insofar as they direct the institutions of government, or act as arms of government in the form of protected monopolies on essential services.
I think these giant corporations are effectively quasi-government organizations. Just like the large banks have spent large amounts of money lobbying and have populated influential positions in the treasury for years. These corporations like Google are doing a similar thing in technology [0].
If he's able to patronize another business with his dollars, then the business does not have that type of power. The reason why governments are held to a higher standard wrt individual rights is because an individual generally cannot just choose another government; they are by definition monopolies.
If it were a monopoly business - say Google, Facebook, the local ISP, or Microsoft in their heyday - you might have more of a point. Few people threaten to quit Google because they may encounter rude assholes on the Internet.
Specifically, the kind of power represented by the monopoly on legitimate use of force, which means their censorship obstructs the marketplace of ideas in which private actors decide which views to express and relay and success is by persuasion that the ideas are valid and should be adopted and relayed by others.
> Businesses have this level of power now.
No, they don't, except insofar as they direct the institutions of government, or act as arms of government in the form of protected monopolies on essential services.