This is a fascinating rabbit hole to go down.
When you consider some of the recent decisions about what constitutes "speech," it raises the important question of whether a private company influencing its customers' voting preferences would actually be protected.
How much different is it for a company to use its speech to influence a politician directly (donations, lobbying, PACs, etc.) vs. stating its political opinions on its own private "property" potentially to influence politics indirectly?
In physical space, is it legal to:
* Have a sign promoting a social position in the window of your private store? ("Say no to drugs!")
* Have a sign promoting a political position? ("Say no to the Iraq war!")
* Have a sign promoting a candidate? ("I like Ike!")
* Tell customers who to vote for? ("Have a nice day, vote for JFK!")
* Tell only customers that "look a certain way" who to vote for? ("As someone in a wheelchair, you should vote for FDR!")
Now convert all this to the online world with banner ads, user targeting, and personalization. Isn't it just free speech at scale?
