Censorship Confirmed

Twitter acting by itself to suppress free speech is not a 1st amendment violation, but acting under orders from the government to suppress free speech, with no judicial review, is

Elon Musk

The Twitter Files have been posted, at least in part, and it shows collusion between Twitter and the Biden Campaign.  After Biden's election, it shows continued collusion to silence critics.  In fact, indications are that both parties had access to backdoor channels to censor Twitter posts.  Censorship by proxy.  That the town square of the modern era is hosted on private platforms has created an incentive toward censorship.  As Musk says, Twitter has every right to censor users for whatever reason.  However, once government enters the picture, censorship becomes the tool of a tyrant.  China, Iran, and North Korea have strong controls on what the people may read or hear, the better to control their views.

How might 2020 have played out if the playing field was level?  90% plus of stories on Trump were negative.  In the case of the Hunter Biden laptop, the media buried the story rather than have a negative story against Biden.  Would it have made a difference?  MAGA folks say it would have made all the difference.  Maybe.  In any case, those who spiked the story certainly thought it would make a difference.