jawboning

The post-PC polite word for a corporate shakedown, it is a slang term used to describe "political strong-arming." While a shakedown is usually driven by the need for more power and control, "jawboning" is considered more ethical because it is a modern version of "calling it like it is." 

Historical perspective: In July 2024, the Supreme Court rejected conservative claims that asking social media companies to suppress misleading posts amounted to censorship. The case, Murthy v. Missouri, stemmed from a lawsuit by Missouri and Louisiana, as well as five private plaintiffs, that charged that the federal government had pressured social media companies to remove material that officials saw as dangerous, such as vaccine misinformation and claims of election fraud. The plaintiffs charged that this pressure, or “jawboning,” directed at Facebook and X amounted to an end-run around First Amendment guarantees of free speech. In a 6-3 decision the court sidestepped deeper questions of the limits of government authority, ruling that the states and other plaintiffs could show no direct harm and lacked standing to sue.