Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is concerned that action to suspend President Donald Trump permanently from the platform sets a precedent that I believe is dangerous: the power that an individual or corporation has over part of the global public talk. ‘
Dorsey calls the ban “a failure of ours” in a series of tweets Wednesday night. “If we have to take these actions, the public discourse is fragmented. It divides us,” he said.
His comments come exactly a week after a crowd of pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building and broke into it on Wednesday, January 6th. Five people were killed during the uprising, including a U.S. police officer in the Capitol, and dozens more injured.
Dorsey explained the decision to ban Trump as a forced action due to the offline effect of Trump’s words. “Online damage as a result of online speech is demonstrably real, and that drives our policies and enforcement above all else,” he said. “I believe it was the right decision for Twitter.”
Before January 6, Trump repeatedly used his massive footprint on Twitter to promote the “Save America” protest event. “Big protest on January 6 in DC. Be there, will be wild!” Trump tweeted in late December.
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On the day of the event, Trump spoke in person to his supporters. “We are going to run down to the Capitol and we will cheer up our brave senators and congressmen and women,” he said. “We are probably not going to rejoice so much for some of them, because you will never take back our country with weakness. You must show strength, and you must be strong.”
While the attack was taking place, the president addressed him on Twitter to address his supporters: ‘These are the things and events that happen when a sacred, overwhelming election victory is so undoubtedly and maliciously removed from great patriots who are so bad and unfair treated is long, ”he said in a tweet that was later removed.
Trump’s Twitter account was permanently suspended on Friday night. When Trump tried to use other accounts related to his office and political campaign, such as @POTUS and @TeamTrump, the messages were removed by Twitter.
Twitter’s policing of the incumbent US president’s Twitter account is unprecedented, indicating to a large extent in moderation Trump’s favorite social media company.
Twitter was one of the most important technological platforms to suspend or ban Trump’s use after the attack on the US Capitol by pro-Trump rioters. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Twitch and Instagram have all imposed some sort of ban on Trump, and technological platforms that have been used in part to organize the attack – such as Parler and Gab – are also banned.
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