Social Media Sites De-platform Trump After Mob Storms Capitol Building

January 7th, 2021 - 1:18 PM EST by Adam Downer

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zuckerberg and trump

Social media sites have taken extraordinary steps to de-platform the President of the United States after yesterday's riot at Capitol Hill, citing the President's role on their platforms in inciting "violent insurrection."

Twitter took the first steps yesterday, banning Trump for 12 hours after he posted a video in which he told the members of the mob "We love you" and "you're very special" while urging them to go home and complaining about a stolen election.

The Twitter Safety account made the announcement yesterday that they required the removal of three of Trump's tweets, including his video, and that his account would be suspended for twelve hours. If the tweets were not removed, the account would remain locked. Trump has yet to tweet since the announcement.


Mark Zuckerberg followed, announcing that the President's Facebook and Instagram accounts would be suspended at least until Joe Biden is inaugurated on January 20th but possibly indefinitely after that.

“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Zuckerberg wrote. While Facebook has maintained a laissez-faire attitude on Trump's account in the past, Zuckerberg appeared to imply that the insurrection at the Capitol was the final straw.

"The current context is now fundamentally different, involving use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government," he wrote.

The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining…

Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, January 7, 2021


YouTube also announced crackdowns on any channel which posts widespread misinformation about the election, including Trump's channel. YouTube introduced a policy in December that banned such videos, but until today, its policy was to have the videos removed. Now, channels posting such videos will receive a strike that will prevent them from uploading new content.

Calls for restrictions on Trump's social media accounts have been common throughout his Presidency as many feared his incendiary tweets would lead to violence. For many, the move to restrict Trump's social media accounts after the Capitol insurrection and with fourteen days left in his Presidency was too little, too late.


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Chewybunny
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Chewybunny

in reply to Timey16

I don't think anyone debates whether or not Twitter is a private company. I think at this point most people understand the difference of understanding the spirit of free speech versus legal/constitutional application of free speech. What people get upset about is the power and influence such a private company has on not just our commercial interests but also our cultural, and political landscape (which is arguably a lot). This becomes increasingly dangerous when the same company can be, and is, used by governments that we consider our enemies – and what influence those governments have over the company. One particular element is the relationship between journalism and Twitter finding that all too many journalists rely on twitter, and fall prey to mass misinformation. Journalists influence public perception which in turn influences public policy.
It is pretty jarring for me, for example, when a company with this kind of influence, chooses to ban/suspend the President of United States for horrible tweets, while simultaneously, allowing Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader, to outright threatening the US and it's allies. Just trying to understand what exactly are the rules, and are they equally applied and if not, why should we tolerate a company that has a clear bias in having such influence over our lives? "Private" or "Public".

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