Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIn an unprecedented step, Facebook and Twitter suspended President Donald Trump from posting to their platforms Wednesday following the storming of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.
Twitter locked Trump out of his account for 12 hours and said future violations could result in a permanent suspension. The company required the removal of three of Trump’s tweets, including a short video in which he urged those supporters to “go home” while also criticizing the integrity of the presidential election. Trump’s account deleted those posts, Twitter said; had they remained, Twitter had threatened to extend his suspension.
Facebook and Instagram, which Facebook owns, followed up in the evening, announcing that Trump wouldn’t be able to post for 24 hours following two violations of its policies. The White House did not immediately offer a response to the actions.
While some cheered the platforms’ actions, experts noted that the companies’ actions followed years of in which Trump and his supporters have been allowed to spread information that they contend might have contributed to Wednesday’s violence.
Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University communications professor and an expert on social media, said Wednesday’s events in Washington, D.C., are a direct result of Trump’s use of social media to spread propaganda and disinformation, and that the platforms should bear some responsibility for their inaction.
“This is what happens,” said Grygiel. “We didn’t just see a breach at the Capitol. Social media platforms have been breached by the president repeatedly. This is disinformation. This was a coup attempt in the United States.”
Grygiel said the platform’s decision to remove the video—and Twitter’s suspension—are too little, too late.
“They’re creeping along towards firmer action,” Grygiel said, calling Trump “Exhibit A” for the need for greater regulation of social media. “Social media is complicit in this because he has repeatedly used social media to incite violence. It’s a culmination of years of propaganda and abuse of media by the president of the United States.”
Trump posted the video more than two hours after protesters entered the Capitol, interrupting lawmakers meeting in an extraordinary joint session to confirm the Electoral College results and President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
So far, YouTube has not taken similar action to muzzle Trump, although it said it also removed Trump’s video. But that video remained available as of Wednesday afternoon.
Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice president of integrity, said on Twitter Wednesday that the video was removed because it “contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”
“This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video,” Rosen said on Twitter.
Twitter initially left the video up but blocked people from being able to retweet it or comment on it. Only later in the day did the platform delete it entirely.
Trump opened his video saying, “I know your pain. I know your hurt. But you have to go home now.”
After repeating claims about voter fraud affecting the election, Trump went on to say: “We can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You’re very special.”
Republican lawmakers and previous administration officials had begged Trump to give a statement to his supporters to quell the violence. He posted his video as authorities struggled to take control of a chaotic situation at the Capitol that led to the evacuation of lawmakers and the death of at least one person.
Trump has harnessed social media—especially Twitter—as a potent tool for spreading allegations about the election. Wednesday’s riot only increased calls to ban Trump from the platform.
“The President has promoted sedition and incited violence,” Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement. “More than anything, what is happening right now at the Capitol is a direct result of the fear and disinformation that has been spewed consistently from the Oval Office.”
Trump and other critics have frequently accused Twitter and Facebook of having too much ability to stifle, censor and control information and shape public debate. Their latest decision to shut down the president’s accounts could provide further evidence of that power.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
WOOHOO! IT’S ABOUT TIME!
Anti free speech Michael…move to China
Shouting “fire” in a crowded theater is not constitutionally protected free speech. Neither is inciting insurrection.
.
All constitutional freedoms have limits, and the domestic terrorists who stormed the Capitol also breached those limits. That was not a peaceable assembly. They should all be in jail this morning.
Right, Chris D.
Trump would have been banned years ago if he was any other user. Spare me the crocodile tears. He owes both companies credit for his rise.
Free speech applies to your right to say whatever you want, not to others to have to broadcast your thoughts to others. Constitution 101 stuff here.
The IBJ is under no obligation to run your letter to the editor. Neither is any social media company under an obligation to let you participate.
Facebook and Twitter are private companies and have terms of service that all users need to abide by. If you own a business you can ask people to leave if they swear or threaten employees. They don’t don’t have free speech in your private space. There never was Free Speech on these platforms.