A Tweet by a U.S. Senator suggests that Democracy depends upon censorship.

Which raises the question – can Senators or other government officials pressure private companies, which are not bound by the First Amendment, to censor speech that government officials do not like?

The answer to that question is yes, they certainly can pressure companies to censor the speech of others.

The U.S. Constitution First Amendment restricts government from controlling your speech (and some other things) but does not restrict businesses. Individuals use of social media is a private business relationship that is not subject to the First Amendment.

Government officials are not prevented from putting pressure on private businesses to censor speech on their platforms either. This opens up an interesting way for the government to bypass the First Amendment, doesn’t it?