By skyforbes 
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Governments usually cannot stop speech before it happens. That is called prior restraint, and courts almost always strike it down. Social media companies are private, so their moderation rules are not governed by the First Amendment unless the government is pulling the strings. If officials threaten or pressure a platform to take down posts, that can become state action and raise First Amendment problems. TikTok’s main legal fight is different: Congress targeted who owns the app, not what users say on it. That kind of structural rule is not classic prior restraint, even though it can still affect speech. Bottom line: private moderation stands, government coercion is out, and broad ownership rules face scrutiny but usually are not treated like a prepublication ban.
The First Amendment started as a narrow limit on Congress, but through incorporation and evolving court rulings, it now applies broadly to federal, state, and local governments. Its protections have expanded over time, especially for political and…