Social media companies should not censor users

I am writing this letter in regards to your article titled "Facebook board upholds Trump ban, just not an indefinite one." After reading this article. I was extremely disappointed to see that one of our country's major social media platforms would censor our media, and not to mention discuss plans to sensor an increased amount of influencers.

I can understand media censoring in an authoritarian or even dictatorship regime such as Russia or China, but not in our democracy. We fought hard for our First Amendment rights, and I think it's completely unjust that our federal government needs to follow the constitutional rights of our citizens but not private companies within our country.

The First Amendment of the Constitution, states that Congress shall not make any law or interfere with freedom of speech or press. In this case, the information applies because if our government is responsible for allowing civil liberties to all citizens within our country, therefore I think that private companies such as Facebook should also.

Although I don't agree with Trump's actions I still believe in fairness for all. The censoring actions of certain companies for undesired posts on their platforms can and will possibly lead to a chain reaction, which can lead to mass censoring across all platforms. That would cause outrage with a large population of our citizens.

Facebook functions in our country; therefore, even though it is not stated or required for them to follow the foundational laws in our country, doing so would be proper, not only just for them but all companies in the United States. In my opinion, these actions will not lead to any beneficial outcomes.

Madison Jessen

Long Grove