Kevin Matossian
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, April 8, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ — On Monday, in his concurring opinion, Supreme Court Justice Thomas stated he believes that Facebook, Twitter, and Google should potentially be treated as utilities. Some digital networks, according to Thomas, are “sufficiently akin” to common carriers such as telecommunications companies. He also claims that Twitter’s recent suspension of the @realdonaldtrump account demonstrates that outlets, not government officials, wield all the influence.
Kevin Matossian, CEO of Cloud Infrastructure company SkySilk, is in agreement with Justice Thomas and wants to take action. “What Justice Thomas articulates in his argument feels a bit like a ‘dark family secret’ everyone knows about, but no one ever talks about,” states Matossian. “All I can say is it’s about time. We are in desperate need of a set of rules and regulations that address what is acceptable and what is not with regards to being ‘online’. And to be clear, I am generally the last one to argue for more regulation, but the state of online affairs today is intolerable, and something must be done.”
The Supreme Court on Monday overturned a lower court decision that found President Trump had behaved unconstitutionally by banning people on Twitter. That argument, which the justices dismissed as moot, was based on the notion that the @realdonaldtrump account was a public forum run by the president of the United States, and therefore could not stifle private speech under the Constitution. In his opinion, Justice Thomas agrees with the ruling, but argues that Twitter’s recent ban of the @realdonaldtrump account shows that platforms, not government officials on them, wield the influence.
Kevin Matossian continues, “We cannot accept an online environment where our very livelihoods can be controlled or dictated by a handful of Big Tech companies and the few powerful leaders that run them. Sadly, the problem runs much deeper than simple online-presence survival. Antitrust questions, possible freedom of speech violations, and the effects on children’s mental health – because of social platforms – are all at play. There seems to be an unnatural and amplified confluence of issues that need to be addressed. We want SkySilk, and other companies like us, to be part of the solution.”
“Justice Thomas’ opinion gives me hope that something can be done about the unchecked power of Big Tech,” concludes Matossian. “As I have repeatedly pointed out, the actions of SkySilk with regards to the Parler platform, both represent our commitment to the spirit of the First Amendment as well as our argument against Big Tech’s repeated overreach. Justice Thomas has, I believe, laid out the framework for an argument that can lead to healthy dialogue and ultimately a ‘rule book’ by which we can all navigate online operations and conduct…and not one exclusively orchestrated by elite technocrats.”
Aurora DeRose
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