Facebook recently announced the first 20 members of its independent Oversight Board on content moderation. Many criticized the political bent of the majority of the members. Fair enough — with 2.45 billion monthly users, some are bound to be displeased. But it’s the challenges to Facebook’s right to make and enforce its content standards in the first place that’s the real threat to liberty online.

Critics from the Left argue that Facebook should take down more posts. They want less user content they claim promotes racism, discrimination, and bullying. Critics from the Right contend that Facebook takes down too much content. They fret that conservative voices are being disproportionately targeted. They argue that Facebook, and other platforms (such as Google’s YouTube), are violating users’ First Amendment rights when they remove content.