President Trump, Twitter, and Freedom of Speech

In the midst of the storming of the Capitol yesterday, Twitter pulled the plug on President Trump. Initially restricting anyone from replying, liking, or sharing his tweet (and later pulling it all together), Twitter had enough. Apparently there is a magical end to the freedom of the Internet, and President Trump reached it.

President Trump, who is no school boy, knew what he was doing. I would call his response to the attacks calculated.

“We had an election that was stolen from us,” Trump said. “It was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now.”

One does not pour gasoline on a fire unless you want to see things explode.

But I digress, what will be talked about in the months to come, will be freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech^[2] is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction.

The moment Twitter did not like what President Trump had to say, they pulled the plug. Up until this point, they had let him exist. Call the election stolen, sure, stay on our platform. The moment though you do not do as we say (in this case, denounce the protestors), you can show yourself the door.

Now, Twitter is a private company, they can do as they please on their platform. But what do Twitter’s actions say about freedom of speech?

• Should politicians be held to a different standard on social media?
• Have social media companies become too big? Big enough to silence the President of the United States?
• When does freedom of speech become a “risk of violence” OR WORSE a result for permanent suspension?

Sound off in the comments below.