I don't see how we break the Gordian knot that the internet created - publishing platforms with near open access and no editorial process. That's a new thing. It's not like a traditional publisher where multiple people along the chain (agent, acquisitions editor, editor, bookstore buyer) all have to make a positive decision, not a block but a buy decision, before something sees the light of day. It's also not like a traditional common carrier where my phone calls are not broadcast and available to the world.
Will it just come down to advertisers forcing platforms into policing the internet?
It would seem so, based on Elon's letter to advertisers saying that Twitter cannot become a free-for-all- hellscape
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585619322239561728/photo/2And it turns out, Truth Social is pretty aggressive about banning people they don't like, especially people who don't like Devin Nunes... though the driver is less clear (Devin Nunes personal ego or user feedback or just a fear of actual fr## sp##ch on Truth Social).
https://www.techdirt.com/2022/02/24/as-expected-trumps-social-network-is-rapidly-banning-users-it-doesnt-like-without-telling-them-why/Amidst that some legislators want to overturn Section 230 so they can make websites responsible for moderating content. Others want to overturn it in order to prevent websites from moderating content.
https://www.theverge.com/21294198/section-230-tech-congress-justice-department-white-house-trump-bidenMeanwhile, a Texas court has ruled that Texas bill HB 12 can go into effect, because Youtube and Facebook are not websites, but are common carriers
https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/13/23068423/fifth-circuit-texas-social-media-law-ruling-first-amendment-section-230HB 20, to recap a little, bans social media platforms from removing, downranking, demonetizing, or otherwise “discriminat[ing] against” content based on “the viewpoint of the user or another person.” It applies to any “internet website or application” that hits 50 million monthly active users and “enables users to communicate with other users,” with exceptions for internet service providers and media sites. Social networks also aren’t allowed to ban users based on their location in Texas, a provision clearly meant to stop sites from simply pulling out of the state — which might be the simplest solution for many of them.
So thirty years on, we still have not settled who is a publisher and who is a common carrier and somehow Twitter has to navigate all that.