>I'm a free speech absolutist
Typically free speech absolutism leads individuals into logical traps they find difficult to dig themselves out of.
But we don't even need that in this case. Private property can have all kinds of restrictions put on it based on the potential dangers and harms it causes. This in fact is one of the most common attacks on speech I see right now (Meta et el) that they will just put age requirements on sites.
>Typically free speech absolutism leads individuals into logical traps they find difficult to dig themselves out of.
Yes, "free speech absolutists" tend to define these terms in ways to hide the true arbitrary nature of their beliefs. The obvious test case is do they believe in legalizing CSAM. Either they answer "yes" and ostracize themselves from almost all of society or they say "no" and have to come up with arbitrary rules why this specific content doesn't count as speech. Either way, self-applying the label is its own red flag.
I don't really understand what your point is.
If I understand the point correctly, it's that regulating the algorithms of Meta et al does not curtail your free speech, so it's a moot argument
I wasn't the one who brought up free speech into the discussion; slg was. That aside, whether it curtails it or not would depend on how one defines "speech". Even if the particular way in which a website displays information is not speech, I still think it would be an overreach for a government to legislate how websites are allowed to function. If I as a user want to see a feed populated by recommended content, and the site's operators want to show it to me, what business does the government have stepping into our interaction?
Cigarettes and their externalities are analogous and that's discussed over here
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47419870
I don't believe the argument was that personalized algorithmic recommendations need be forbidden per se, but that doesn't mean that should be the default, nor that companies should be able to wash their hands (under section 230) of what they promote
Like the other person said, cigarettes are not illegal. Are we really going to pretend that whatever harm TikTok causes is comparable to lung cancer?
Like the other posts you're arguing against have said, the argument is not that social media or personalized algorithms should be "illegal"
And "are we going to pretend" is a non-argument that works both ways: "Are we really going to pretend individualized algorithmic social media hasn't caused harm to society on par with smoking?" would be equally unconvincing
There's no pretending, there. It just hasn't.