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Notes -
Because it would never have happened in the first place. The lawsuit was filed because the government successfully pressured social media sites into censoring regime-critical opinions. A newspaper or journalistic outfit, even a very thoroughly regime aligned one, would have told the government to F off. This isn’t Europe; they can totally do that even if they later get nailed for some technical tax issue that no one in history has ever been prosecuted for. You’ll notice Fox News isn’t at the center of this case.
It’s a form of harassment. The newspaper or TV network is happy to go to court against the government; indeed it’s a great story if Fox News or the Wall Street Journal can regularly update its readers on the government’s attempted censorship of its journalists.
But for Meta, which doesn’t really make any money from news (barring some meager ad sales on news videos), government attention is only negative. Zuck didn’t have to fold, but at the same time, Zuck doesn’t want to waste half his year in endless hearings at the FTC or in whichever congressional chamber the Dems have a majority.
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