Are social media platforms genuinely committed to free speech or do they apply rules selectively?

Context

Social media platforms operate as private companies with terms of service that allow them to moderate content, yet their scale and role in public discourse raise questions about whether moderation is applied consistently or reflects political bias. The tension between free speech principles—which traditionally constrain government censorship—and platform autonomy has intensified as these companies remove misinformation, hate speech, and policy-violating content, while critics argue enforcement appears selective or opaque. This debate matters because billions rely on these platforms for news and expression, making their moderation decisions consequential for democratic discourse.