REWIND to 2021: Twitter Wants User’s Input on How Their Rules Apply to World Leaders, But Why Now?
Twitter wants to know what you think about their censoring world leaders as if that will make any difference in their decision-making process.
Originally posted on Loomered.com, March 23rd, 2021.
Twitter is now asking for the public's input on “whether or not they believe world leaders should be subject to the same rules as others on Twitter.” Curious, since Twitter has never asked for the public's opinion on banning anyone from the site, including after they banned the sitting President of the United States, Donald J Trump.
A public survey was released on March 19th from the platform that was said to “help inform the development” of Twitter's policies and was available in 14 different languages. The survey is still available through April 12th, 2021 here: https://survey.twitterfeedback.com/survey/selfserve/53b/twt21006?list=1#?
“We want to serve the public conservation and allow the public to hear from and engage with leaders around the world,” Twitter said. “Ultimately, our aim is to have a policy that appropriately balances fundamental human rights and considers the global context in which we operate.”
When Twitter decided to de-platform and permanently ban President Trump over tweets he made before and after the Jan 6th rally at the Capitol, there was an influx of reactionary tweets ranging from celebratory to outright disbelief, with some users even shutting down their own accounts and walking away from the platform for good.
Where was their interest in public opinion then?
According to a February 8th blog post on Twitter Inc.'s site, they laid out their reasoning for PERMANENTLY suspending the President of the United States from the platform.
The tweet that Twitter said "glorified violence" was one from January 8th, 2021 which read:
“The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”
A follow-up tweet from Trump was also mentioned by the platform which stated: “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
Twitter explained that you must add CONTEXT to these tweets, with respect to the January 6th event at the Capitol, but Twitter fails to mention the numerous times that President Trump used the platform to express to his base and to the public in general that violence would NOT be tolerated.
"Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks. After assessing the language in these Tweets against our Glorification of Violence policy, we have determined that these Tweets are in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy and the user @realDonaldTrump should be immediately permanently suspended from the service."
At 2:38 pm on January 6th, the day that Trump told his followers to remember forever, the President asked for the support of law enforcement and Capitol police and urged those attending the protest to "Stay peaceful!"
