This is the Daily Article podcast, published by the Denison Forum for Culture-changing Christians.

To receive the Daily article directly to your email inbox each weekday morning, visit

thedailyarticle.com. Now here's today's news, discerned differently.

Controversy erupted recently when Facebook and Twitter blocked President Trump from their

platforms, following the January 6th Capitol riots, claiming that his posts violated their

rules against inciting violence.

Last week, the conservative social media platform Parlor was deplatformed by Amazon Web Services,

citing posts that clearly encourage and incite violence. Apple and Google joined in blocking the

platform. What do these actions mean for the future of American media? How could they affect

evangelical Christians in the coming years?

How should we respond biblically to this divisive and urgent issue?

Let's begin with some background. At the heart of the debate is the question. Are social media

companies such as Twitter and Facebook publishers

or platforms? If they are publishers, they are liable for the content they publish. For example,

if the New York Times publishes a story that defames a person, it can be sued for liable. If they

are platforms by contrast, they are not liable for the content

published by others on their sites. If someone posts a bad review of a restaurant on Facebook,

the restaurant cannot sue Facebook. If it could, social media platforms would be inundated with

lawsuits and could cease to function.

However, these platforms can regulate content if necessary without incurring legal liability.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 states,

no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be held liable on account of any

...