All electronic bits are created equal, and freedom of speech is technology-neutral. Government shall not prohibit the exercise of communications nor abridge electronic speech, content provided by the electronic press, nor the right of the people to peaceably assemble electronically. Freedom of speech, as applied to telecommunications, must assure a legal parity of electronic speech with traditional forms of communication. The First Amendment protects speech against governmental restrictions but not against private constraints. To account for private constraints, the legal institution of common carriage established a free flow of information over some telecommunications networks.
Common carriage is a frequently misunderstood concept.
It means nondiscriminatory conduit service by a carrier, neutral as to content, users, and usage. Common carriage is not only a free speech matter. The reason for common carriage, whether in transportation or communication, is generally to reduce transaction costs in the use of infrastructure and hence to benefit its development. Information travels across numerous subnetworks until it reaches its destination. If each of these networks sets its own rules about which information is carried and which is not, information cannot flow easily.