It was reported that Google, the online search engine, is hampering free speech. Non-profit group Oceana bought ads out on Google linking clickers to websites denouncing Royal Caribbean because of its problems with pollution, which Google pulled later, sayind they didn't want ads defaming the cruise line.
Google is a privately held company. It is their right to exclude ads they don't want. How is this inhibiting freedom of speech? Google is not campaigning against Oceana, trying to get a cease-and-desist order out on them. Google does not receive federal funds, obligating it to comply with First Amendment rights. It is not a school, forming the minds of the future leaders of the world. It is a private website company, with full discretion over how they want to run their business.
If, for example, someone submits something to my website, BurningTiger, that I don't want on there, I have full editorial discretion to not put up. I'm not violating anyone's rights. They can putit up somewhere else.
Oceana has its own website promoting their interests. If they want Google to display their website, why not design their website and pay the search engines so that it pops up higher in search results? Do they really believe that simply buying an ad entitles an entity to anything they want? Remember that freedom of speech rights apply to Google too, giving them the discretion to say what they want on their website, and judging from the ridicuous opinions so proliferate today, some things are better left unsaid.