I was banned from an online forum. Which law would enable me to force admins to restore my account and issue an apology? (and pin my post to homepage) [closed]

Question

For example - Twitter is very pro freedom of speech.

Some online forum - their home - their rules - their Terms & Conditions.

I do not like the fact that I was banned, without breaching any rules. I actually did follow all the rules - such as posting in the open thread and asking why my previous post was removed.

I guess someone did not like it:

But maybe I am in a position to evidence beyond reasonable doubt and convince a judge:

• freedom of speech is fundamental human right
• online forums are categorised as public spaces
• there should be some statutory right to appeal the ban

I think that overall it would move the humanity forward. We are 2023 and there is no universal law for discussion on the internet.

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Normally I would not care, but the matter is pretty important, AI alignment metric is a hot topic. My personal blog and Twitter - hardly any audience. That's why reachout, collaboration and sharing and receiving feedback is important.

If you are curious, here is the post that was not approved (saved as PDF and uploaded to my personal website)

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EDIT / UPDATE: Less litigious version... Accessing my data. Accessing conversation via DM with the admin (they made some good points that I would like to share). In the EU hell yeah I have GDPR and surely I can access it. Is there anything similar in the US?

I know loads of US websites do 451: Unavailable Due to Legal Reasons... Maybe I can move the humanity forward by using this angle of the law?

EDIT / UPDATE: WOW, WOW, WOW... Thank you for all comments. Interesting matter indeed. Terms & Conditions have "dispute resolution" section and I may as well use it. Matter is important. AI alignment is important:

Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.

For the sake of simplicity let's assume that I have some unique insights that require scrutiny and fact-checking. The forum I want to post is "de facto" a Schelling Point (place where everyone hangs out) and I would do a disservice to humanity if my content didn't have a chance to receive critical feedback.

Getting banned is not an option, initiating arbitration.

I could be delusional too. In that case it makes sense for me to understand it. Public forums are not public spaces? Metaverse multiverse laws are in the early days, I'm happy to explore these matters in 3D IRL courts ⚖️

Repurposing XKCD: https://xkcd.com/2347/

Answer 1

Usually you have no remedy.

The terms of service of the online forum will usually reserve absolute discretion on the part of the forum administrators to ban you.

Free speech rights do not apply to the actions of non-governmental actors. This is why bans of access to the accounts of government officials can often be litigated, but other bans and regulations of forums cannot be litigated.

No form of litigation of any kind in the United States gives rise to a right to an apology.

Answer 2

There is no such law.

Per xkcd:

Answer 3

You offer 3 ideas:

1. freedom of speech is fundamental human right
2. online forums are categorised as public spaces
3. there should be some statutory right to appeal the ban

Of the three, only ONE is true, and that only partially: Yes, freedom of speech is recognized as a fundamental right, or rather, in the US it is enshrined as:

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.

I did bold the very first word for a reason: The First Amendment regulates what Congress can and can't do. It has no weight about private citizens allowing anything in their own place. This is where your second idea fails: Online Forums are most decidedly not Public spaces, and the providers are not the government.

And here, your third idea is absolutely wrong: There can't be such a right, as that would be a law that limits the platform's speech. And Congress - the only ones who may regulate the internet - can not do such a law. Banning somebody or something is the platform's speech.

For further information, I suggest listening to Ken White, Make No Law podcast #11: Deplatformed.