[falcrist]

People constantly conflate "freedom of speech" with the protection granted by the first amendment.

That's right up to and including Randal Munroe, who said "The right to free speech means the government can't arrest you for what you say"

That's not freedom of speech, that's the first amendment protections of freedom of speech... and it doesn't even adequately describe the protections. There are other things the government isn't allowed to do besides arrest you. They can't force you to say something, either. They can't prohibit certain opinions from being expressed in government owned or regulated channels.

And freedom of speech can be infringed on or limited by other entities than the government.

A better description would be "principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or sanction." This means that if you're forced into silence by threat of retaliation from, say, a religious sect or political group in your area, it's still infringing on your freedom of speech even if they aren't part of the government.

[amanaplanacanal]

Where is the line though? If I disagree with what you say am I allowed to call you an idiot? Am I allowed to no longer associate with you? Those could both be considered retaliation or sanction.

And am I required to publish your words even though I disagree with them? That would seem to infringe my freedom of speech.

[falcrist]

You HAVE to make those determinations on a case-by-case basis.

Like all freedoms, the freedom of speech is slippery, difficult to define, and has fuzzy boundaries. It can never be absolute, because that would immediately raise contradictions. Where does your freedom end and mine begin?

In this particular case, how big does a company need to be before we start forcing it to host content that it doesn't want to host? When is it ok to force someone to provide a universal platform... to tie their hands so they can't moderate as they see fit?

Do I have a right to stand on your stage and shout whatever I want at your audience? Do you have a right to buy every stage and then exclude and censor people like me?