Many tens of millions of Americans have become dependent on such social media conglomerates as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google and Yahoo (among others) for vital communication with friends and relatives, and as avenues for the vital expression of speech and opinion. Additionally, many innocent members of the public rely on these corporate interests for their news and information. Despite the fact that these companies are almost 100% dependent upon their members for the content that these companies then use to make profits from, all of these social media companies have been guilty of data mining, censorship and the repression of free speech of those very members. Given the important service that social media potentially provides for the lives of so many people, the time has come for the federal government to declare the worst of these abusive companies to be public utilities. The social media companies singled out would still remain in the hands of private owners, but with government oversight and regulation to ensure that these companies to not violate their members’ free speech rights, do not steal data and information from their customers that their customers do not want abused, and do not serve as propaganda outlets for anti-American interests. The time has come to end the abuse of social media. For more revolutionary idea on how to make our world a more just society, read The Dharma Manifesto.
October 22, 2016