Free association absolutism went the way of all things with the Civil Rights Act. Private entities (hotels, restaurants, etc.) were deemed "public accommodations" and their owners were no longer free to serve only those with whom they wished to do business. In a very real sense, when we (stupidly) allowed a few tech companies to create monopolies, they became modern communications "public accommodations." By simply adding Political Viewpoint as a protected class to civil rights legislation, the whole publisher vs. platform argument goes away and any legal speech becomes speech that may not be suppressed without incurring penalties for discrimination. In other words, we have already decided that discrimination is an evil greater than the freedom of association--and can be remedied by civil legal action. Freedom of speech should be remedied in the same fashion.