The Social Media Ban
Trump banned from Twitter and Facebook — headlines seen across media sources after the controversial riots in the capital. Both companies suspended President Trump’s accounts from their social platforms. CEO Zuckerberg says “the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great.” However, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey takes a more radical stance, he approves the permanent ban of Trump. Other tech companies follow the lead, Google suspended Trump’s Youtube channel, Reddit banned certain “pro-trump” forums, and Snapchat will permanently discharge his account on the final day of his presidency.
This calls for one of the most revolutionary moments in history: two of the biggest social media companies in the world removing the United States President from their platforms. The country watches as a group of technology executives utilize their growing power to withdraw Trump’s “most influential broadcasting tools, curtailing his ability to command attention and drive the news cycle from his mobile phone at a moment's notice.” Individuals then begin to ask themselves how the influence of certain individuals and corporations can change global politics instantaneously. The president has been forced to broadcast to citizens through the White House Twitter, on news media, and official press releases. Other than through those media outlets, Trump has not been heard from.
Some agree with the banning of President Trump on these platforms saying “it should have happened earlier” and “the First Amendment does not prohibit private businesses from deciding what they host on their platforms.” But, others agree with Trump as he criticizes “the efforts to censor, cancel and blacklist our fellow citizens.”
Backlash Rises Against Twitter and Facebook
Activist groups in Ethiopia pleaded social networks to ban hate speech inciting ethnic violence after killing hundreds of people. Indian activists asked companies to remove posts from public figures who targeted Muslims. A Parliament member in Slovakia who was arrested for incitement and racist comments did not have his hateful posts taken down on Facebook. President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines was not removed from Facebook even after using it to target journalists and other critics. Seen throughout the years, Facebook and Twitter have refused to take down certain hateful posts as they follow the “American ideals of free speech.” Human rights groups and activists worldwide now see the prominent hypocrisy in their statements after banning President Trump from their social networks. They are now asking these big corporations to “apply their policies evenly,” especially in smaller countries where their platform dominates most of the media. Javier Pallero, a human rights leader involved with the Ethiopia letters, says “When I saw what the platforms did with Trump, I thought, ‘You should have done this before, and you should do this consistently in other countries around the world.’”
Since then, we have started to see a change. Twitter updated its policies saying “it would permanently suspend the accounts of repeat offenders of its rules on political content.” Facebook has deleted multiple state-run accounts in Iran and government-run accounts in Uganda where violence has been promoted.
Some say these companies have good intentions, but the lack of context on what is happening in countries around the world makes it hard to understand what to/ not to remove from their platform. Or, others argue, do business advantages outweigh the protection of human rights: “[Facebook] has been accused of not policing anti-Muslim content from political figures for fear of upsetting the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling party.”
Conclusion
All in all, we must decipher if these privately-owned companies should have the power to control the media, influence politics heavily, and sway public opinion. Can these corporations silence leaders, even if democratically elected? Are they ready to monitor hate speech globally? What are your thoughts?
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