End runs

Let’s say that the police want to search your home, but they don’t have the probable cause needed to get a warrant. So to solve this “problem” they come up with a plan. They have a criminal on speed dial who they recently caught committing a burglary do them a favor in exchange for the cops not arresting them. In this case, the burglar breaks into your house then anonymously calls the police to report seeing a dead body in the home. Or perhaps bomb making material. It doesn’t matter what he claims to have seen. This call falls under one of the exceptions that would allow the police to enter your home.

That’s a dick move, right? Would you consider that to be a violation of your Constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure? In this case, the police didn’t have the legal ability to search your home, so they got another person to do it on their behalf.

Isn’t having a private business violate your First Amendment rights the same thing?

The “liberal” or “progressive” stance has always been that free speech is only about state suppression, not about private companies or individuals.

The argument has always been that Facebook/Twitter/Google etc. are private companies that have every right to decide what appears on their platforms. Of course, if the state is actively instructing the private companies on what to remove…that argument crumbles to dust.

Now do a little thinking and let me know what other Constitutional rights are being subverted because the government has enlisted others to do the violating.