Telecommies

Here’s a brief excerpt from Peter Suderman’s outstanding article, Public Know Nothings, featured on The American Spectator.

NARAL, a hard-line pro-abortion group, had a text message blast rejected by wireless provider Verizon on the grounds that Verizon reserves the right to refuse to send controversial messages — of any political persuasion — over its system…

Surely, I thought, this would lead to calls for regulatory action, and surely confusion would ensue. Never mind that after a swift and loud public outcry, Verizon reversed its decision the very next day…

And sure enough, with the help of some liberal advocacy groups, the FCC has begun to mull the business of texting and rejecting. Several of these groups, led by the left-leaning tech advocacy organization Public Knowledge, recently submitted a petition demanding that the FCC issue a ruling that blockages are illegal….

BUT WHAT THEY’RE calling for is hardly safe text. Instead, it’s governmental bullying. Their rallying cry is that Verizon’s action amounted to “censorship.”

But was it? Most people would not think it censorship for a party host to ask an unruly, argumentative guest to settle down, nor for their local coffee shop to place rules on what bulletins might or might not be posted on its cork board. These are private actors that have a right and, indeed, often an obligation to watch over what is said and done on their property.

The same goes for Verizon. Just because its network exists largely in the wireless ether doesn’t make it any less property. Verizon, like any property owner, needs to reserve the right to manage the content that flows over its network.

[read Suderman’s full article here]