“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” said Twitter.
On January 8, 2021, Twitter announced this in their official statement before permanently suspending Trump’s account. Shortly after Twitter, other social media apps including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and even Pinterest, have all followed suit and banned Trump, along with removing hashtags that his extremist supporters have been using, such as #stormthecapitol. While a large majority of people support these apps actions, others have been trying to argue on behalf of Trump and say it’s a violation of free speech. Whichever side on which you stand, here’s a brief explanation of why Twitter and the other apps were completely justified in their actions.
The first and most important thing to keep in mind is that these companies are all privately owned. As much as it may seem certain ones only revolve around politics, not one of the platforms that blocked Trump are owned by the government. Why is this important? Because the first amendment, a.k.a. the amendment dealing with free speech, is only relevant to the government and its actions. Free speech in America means laws and strict censorship can’t be passed on religions, the press or on peaceful gatherings. While we should certainly allow everyone to be able to speak freely, this still does not extend to a social media platform. Therefore, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, etc. are not breaking any rules by banning Trump and monitoring what’s posted by his followers.
Now some say that the apps are simply being unfair against Trump by deleting his posts in the past, and now by officially suspending him. This is just not the case. On their official statement about why they suspended Trump’s account, Twitter pointed out that they have their own set of “Twitter Rules” and that they have warned Trump and other politicians that they will act if their rules are violated. Twitter then proceeds to point out the different ways Trump’s account has violated their rules. The biggest and most important is in light of their “Glorification of Violence policy”, which is Twitter’s strong stance against glorifying or encouraging violence on their platform. Viewing Trump’s tweets and the resulting attack on the capitol by domestic terrorists in the lens of this policy led Twitter to the conclusion that his tweets did incite violence, and for that Trump’s account could no longer be allowed on their platform.
Nobody likes to be monitored, especially adults. However, Trump along with everyone else who joins these different platforms agrees to following a certain code of conduct in line with the platform’s rules. Just like breaking the law can lead to being arrested, breaking the rules of a privately owned app will also lead to consequences. Whether he agrees with them or not, Trump is no exception and will be forced to follow the rules.
