Well, we have seen this before. Big tech companies are hard at work ensuring their dominance and relevancy in the modern world.
Companies including Facebook, which has taken the helm in this case, are fighting during a global pandemic to further control the public narrative.
Using the term "essential" is in fashion these days. For workers in the coronavirus panemic, it is analogous with "expendable". Large media companies withe valuations in the hundrends of billions use it to mean profitable. The enormous companies are lobbying Congress to dodge taxes and ensure they control speech and censorship.
Facebook actively censors content, so is their claim to be "essential" for free speech truly valid? Is the First Amendment going to be supported by these companies, or will expanding censorship, as we have seen as Twitter censors COVID-19 tweets?
Image from Pixabay.