Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/22-277_d18f.pdf
Page Number: 25

Cite as:  603 U. S. ____ (2024) 

19 

Opinion of the Court 

is the whole project of the First Amendment.  And the gov-
ernment can take varied measures, like enforcing competi-
tion  laws,  to  protect  that  access.  Cf.,  e.g.,  Turner  I,  512 
U. S.,  at  647  (protecting  local  broadcasting);  Hurley,  515 
U. S., at 577 (discussing Turner I ).  But in case after case, 
the Court has barred the government from forcing a private 
speaker to present views it wished to spurn in order to re-
jigger  the  expressive  realm.    The  regulations  in  Tornillo, 
PG&E, and Hurley all were thought to promote greater di-
versity of expression.  See supra, at 14–16.  They also were
thought to counteract advantages some private parties pos-
sessed in controlling “enviable vehicle[s]” for speech.  Hur-
ley, 515 U. S., at 577.  Indeed, the Tornillo Court devoted 
six pages of its opinion to recounting a critique of the then-
current  media  environment—in  particular,  the  dispropor-
tionate “influen[ce]” of a few speakers—similar to one heard 
today  (except  about  different  entities).    418  U. S.,  at  249; 
see id., at 248–254; supra, at 14–15.  It made no difference. 
However imperfect the private marketplace of ideas, here 
was a worse proposal—the government itself deciding when
speech was imbalanced, and then coercing speakers to pro-
vide more of some views or less of others. 

B 

“[W]hatever the challenges of applying the Constitution 
to  ever-advancing  technology,  the  basic  principles”  of  the
First Amendment “do not vary.”  Brown v. Entertainment 
Merchants Assn., 564 U. S. 786, 790 (2011).  New commu-
nications media differ from old ones in a host of ways: No
one thinks Facebook’s News Feed much resembles an insert 
put in a billing envelope.  And similarly, today’s social me-
dia  pose  dangers  not  seen  earlier:  No  one  ever  feared  the 
effects of newspaper opinion pages on adolescents’ mental 
health.  But analogies to old media, even if imperfect, can 
be useful.  And better still as guides to decision are settled 
principles about freedom of expression, including the ones