To give you the bottom line up front: NO.
The utility designation and monopolization of the Telecom industry was effectively FDR's WPA and other God-Awful chimeras of the government-industrial complex. Everyone ran from that shit as soon as there were alternatives to the phone line available.
What AT&T is talking about, in what Q cited, is designating social media as a utility. Look up the kinds of regulatory authority this grants the FCC and the government at large.
Look - it is a problem that social media platforms can turn on their users and brainwash them. It is a security concern. It is a sovereignty concern.
However, the problem is that we have a multifaceted cabal that has infiltrated both government and media (as well as finance and others). It blatantly violates the law and the Constitution and has people cheering in the streets to celebrate the 'progress.'
How, exactly, is designating 8chan a public utility going to fix the fucking problem or prevent it from happening in the future (except the government actors can simply snuff out any non-compliant utilities)?
You must first understand the Bill of Rights we have. It is not a statement of "you have the right to speak freely" - it is a "congress shall make no law…"
I don't have the right to walk into a bar and say whatever I want and to hell with the rules the barkeep has set up. That is not how it works. The Constitution does not bind citizens or their businesses, it binds the government and law. The sheath upon the sword of Damocles.
Let me extrapolate. Walmart said they won't sell toy guns or "military style" weapons. Is that a form of censorship? There are other grocery stores in town, but … I mean… It's Wally world. Should it be considered a utility, too? Should a government agency begin regulating the kinds of things they can put on or take off the shelves as a form of media bias controls?
This screams of "create a problem then offer a poisoned solution."