I'm torn on Trump getting banned from Twitter (and a dozen other platforms). He's a menace but do I want private monopolies decide who can have a voice? Hell no. While Trump needed to be shut up, it can't be the end of it. Platforms need to be regulated like utilities.

The fact that Trump got banned basically from the internet is testament to the fact that a dozen or so corporations have rolled up internet into monopolies in almost all regions outside of China and many of these companies are run by irresponsible individuals. This is bad.

Saying "they are private companies and can do whatever they like" is dangerously deferential to monopoly power and the irresponsible individuals that have enabled him in the first place and profited handsomely from it.

Censorship (which it is if we look at the scale of the ban) feels right and justified now but what if it hits somebody five years down the road who isn't so obviously corrosive? Do we want people like Zuckerberg to have this kind of power?

I know this is unpopular but I don't think there was any good solution to the problem. Yes, banning him feels right but I fear it is a visceral reaction that blanks out the consequences of the precedent that was just set. It's dangerous unless we break up & regulate these firms.