Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority (1961) hilariously sets the legal precedent for whether or not a private actor must respect and uphold the constitutional rights of citizens. If a private company is deemed to be a "state actor" (i.e. acting as an agent of or on behalf of the government), they are liable to uphold the Equal Protection Clause and thus the constitutional rights of citizens. That precedent was more than exceeded with the back channels and regular chain of communication between Twitter and the federal government, and especially the millions of dollars changing hands.

Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority (1961) hilariously sets the legal precedent for whether or not a private actor must respect and uphold the constitutional rights of citizens. If a private company is deemed to be a "state actor" (i.e. acting as an agent of or on behalf of the government), they are liable to uphold the Equal Protection Clause and thus the constitutional rights of citizens. That precedent was more than exceeded with the back channels and regular chain of communication between Twitter and the federal government.