Opinion: It took a mob riot for Twitter to finally ban Trump

Jon Healey
Trump supporters gather outside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. As Congress prepares to affirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory, thousands of people have gathered to show their support for President Donald Trump and his claims of election fraud. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
Supporters of President Trump gather outside the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, after Trump urged them to march on lawmakers who were about to certify his loss to President-elect Joe Biden. (Associated Press )

Whose megaphone will President Trump use now?

In the wake of the horrifying attack on the U.S. Capitol, major social media companies have all "deplatformed" Trump and some of his fellow traffickers in false claims about the November 2020 election. The last to join in the cancel ceremonies was Twitter, Trump's favorite vehicle for spreading deception and calumny.

After Twitter finally started labeling Trump's deceptive tweets for what they were last May, I wrote that the company had waited three years too long. That delay, combined with Twitter's ongoing refusal to make Trump abide by the rules that apply to everyone else on the network, made Friday's ban inevitable.

The long-overdue deplatforming could be an analgesic for the Trumpists' fever dreams about overturning Joe Biden's victory in November, which Congress formally certified several hours after the Capitol was cleared. No other microblogging or messaging service has the reach in the United States of Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. None can have the sort of impact for Trump that Twitter has.

But some critics, especially those on the right, object to the giant social networks enforcing their terms of service simply because they are giant. Their scale, these observers argue, has transformed them into the 21st century equivalent of the public commons.

Maybe so! But that doesn't change the fact that they are not government actors, so they're not bound by the 1st Amendment. And even promoting a free speech culture does not mean amplifying all speech.

Twitter's analysis of Trump's last two tweets, issued after the president's personal account had been suspended for a day, is instructive.

The first tweet proclaimed that "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!!!" The second stated, "To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th."

The company looked across the Twitterverse to see how the tweets were being interpreted by Trump's seditious followers. And what it found was chilling.

Trump's use of the phrase "great American Patriots," Twitter said, was "being interpreted as support for those committing violent acts at the U.S. Capitol." Trump's announcement that he's blowing off the Inauguration was seen by some "as further confirmation that the election was not legitimate" and as a disavowal of the president's stated support for an orderly transition of power. "The second Tweet may also serve as encouragement to those potentially considering violent acts that the Inauguration would be a 'safe' target, as he will not be attending," Twitter wrote.

That's some quality signal tracing right there.

But for heaven's sake, why did it take a mob of Trump zealots storming the Capitol, and five deaths that resulted, for Twitter to look at what Trump has been signaling across its network? Or for Facebook to cut off Trump's use of its network to microtarget his snake oil?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said he doesn't feel comfortable playing the role of speech police. But he's created one of the world's most powerful amplifiers, and he's rightly set standards — low standards, sadly — for what people can do with it. World leaders should be held to the same rules as everyone else; otherwise, social networks are giving those politicians a means to communicate which is less transparent and public than the powerful soapboxes that come with their offices.

Twitter similarly has said there's a public interest in seeing what's on the minds of important figures. But those figures have their own platforms and their own microphones. No private company is obligated to hand over its platform to a president in the supposed interest of newsworthiness and history. That just feels like a pretext for maintaining the huge audiences that controversial figures such as Trump bring.

Going forward, there's only one way for Facebook, Twitter and their counterparts to proceed: Enforce their rules against misinformation, threats and slander diligently and fairly against every user, no matter how powerful or weak. Otherwise, they're just inviting outraged regulators and lawmakers to set and enforce the rules for them.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Latest Stories

  • After failed attack on Capitol, QAnon asks if it can still ‘trust the plan’

    While some interpreted Trump’s pre-recorded comments as a concession, others divined a more hopeful message in his ambiguous promise to supporters.

  • Loeffler concedes to Warnock in Georgia Senate race: 'We came up slightly short'

    On Thursday, Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler conceded to the Rev. Raphael Warnock in a video statement posted to Twitter.

  • Ad•Guardio

    Chrome Users? Say Goodbye to Pop Ups

    Click to Check Your Chrome now! Guardio Scan & Protects Your Browser from Popups, Phishing, Malware & Other Threats.

  • Sen. Joe Manchin says he'd 'absolutely' oppose Biden's stimulus checks, then swiftly walks it back after stocks tank

    President-elect Joe Biden announced some economic priorities on Friday, but Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) promptly poked some holes in his plans.Biden began laying out his framework for the next round of COVID-19 relief, reports The Washington Post, and said his plans include a multi-trillion-dollar package that would provide "more direct relief flowing to families, small businesses," in part via $2,000 stimulus checks.But Manchin, who Axios notes will become an increasingly important player as a moderate in the Democrats' razor-thin Senate majority, seemed taken aback by Biden's promise. "I don't know where in the hell $2,000 came from. I swear to God I don't," he said. "That's another $400 billion dollars." Since Republicans are united in opposing larger checks, resistance from a single Democrat could throw a wrench in Biden's plans.He told the Post he would "absolutely not" support larger stimulus checks for Americans, but a spokesperson later seemed to walk back his resistance, insisting Manchin "isn't drawing a red line against" $2,000 checks, but simply "believes vaccine distribution should be a higher priority," as NBC News' Sahil Kapur put it. Perhaps realizing how consequential his hardline opposition to the plan may be, Manchin later tweeted to note he was open to discussion. "If the next round of stimulus checks goes out they should be targeted to those who need it," he wrote. Conspicuously, between Manchin's initial comments and his clarification, markets seemed to notice the potential roadblock.> Stocks dropped from all-time highs after a report that West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin will oppose further direct aid payments, denting hopes for another sweeping spending bill https://t.co/qzugAEnxpL pic.twitter.com/34WGqpsXJ3> > — Bloomberg (@business) January 8, 2021Aside from Manchin's role in the announcement, Biden's remarks on his economic plans were noteworthy in that he prioritized extending unemployment insurance, as well as sending billions of dollars in aid to state and local governments, which could help speed up COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Read more at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Capitol riot There will be no Trump heir Will the legislature fight back?

  • Six Republican lawmakers among rioters as police release photos of wanted

    Suspects include Holocaust deniers, White supremacists, and conspiracy theorists

  • Trump’s policies have made life better for every American: Mike Huckabee

    Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee provides insight into the GOP’s future and Trump’s legacy on ‘Outnumbered Overtime.’

  • Ad•EnergyBillCruncher

    San Francisco, California: Say Bye To Expenisve Solar Panels

    Do this instead of buying expensive solar panels. It's absolutely genius. This program has power companies furious.

  • US group appeals for Pakistani woman jailed on blasphemy

    The U.S. religious watchdog appealed Friday for the rights of a Pakistani woman from the country’s minority Ahmadis who has been jailed on blasphemy charges, declaring her a prisoner of conscience and urging Prime Minister Imran Khan's government to immediately set her free. The statement by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said 55-year-old Ramazan Bibi was jailed last April under Pakistan's draconian blasphemy law that carries the death penalty. Under the law, anyone accused of insulting Islam can be sentenced to death if found guilty.

  • More than 60 feared dead as Indonesian Boeing 737 crashes into the sea

    More than 60 people are feared dead after a plane crashed off the coast of Indonesia shortly after take-off on Saturday afternoon. Flight SJ182 took off from the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and then plunged more than 10,000 feet into the sea. Officials said the plane was carrying 50 passengers – including ten children - and 12 crew. On Saturday night, a large-scale search operation was underway to hunt for wreckage of the plane, which is sank in 30 metre- deep waters around the island of Lancang, part of the Thousand Islands chain just north of Jakarta. The plane was heading on a 90-minute domestic flight to Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province on Indonesia's Borneo island At the time of the crash, local fishermen spoke of hearing a thunderous explosion. When they reached the area, they discovered pieces of wreckage from the airliner. "The plane fell like lightning into the sea and exploded in the water," one fisherman told the BBC’s Indonesian service. "It was pretty close to us, the shards of a kind of plywood almost hit my ship."

  • Petition to Recall California Gov. Gavin Newsom Draws 1 Million Signatures

    The latest effort to recall California governor Gavin Newsom has gained more than 1 million signatures, with nine weeks left to collect the additional 500,000 that would enable the measure to be placed on the ballot.Should the recall effort receive 1.5 million total signatures by mid-March, a mid-year election would take place."The people are being heard loud and clear, and it is not a matter of IF we are going to reach our goal necessary that will trigger a recall election of Newsom, it is just when we cross the finish line," Orrin Heatlie, the Lead Proponent of the official RecallGavin2020.com, said in a statement.A senior adviser to the recall campaign, Randy Economy, previously told Fox News that it hoped to meet the benchmark required to place the measure on the ballot by mid-to late-January.He told the outlet the effort is nonpartisan, with supporters of both Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) and President Trump backing the cause.While recall initiatives in the Golden State seldom make it onto the ballot, Newsom’s public image has been marred recently by a series of controversies, including his attendance at a mask-less, not-socially-distanced indoor dinner party late last year even as he enacted strict coronavirus restrictions in the state.Economy said a number of the movement’s supporters believe the governor has mismanaged the state’s coronavirus response, particularly as it relates to small businesses.Many small business owners in the state have lost their livelihoods while big-box stores have been allowed to remain open, he said. Newsom "put corporate interests before the people of California," Economy said.In 2003, Gray Davis became the first governor to be recalled in the U.S. since 1921. The vacancy was ultimately filled by Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

  • Ad•Quotza.com

    California Drivers With No DUI's Getting A Big Pay Day

    Why don't more drivers know about this? If you currently drive a car and pay for auto insurance you better read this.

  • New charges reportedly brought in pro-Trump riot, including for a Republican state lawmaker

    New charges have reportedly been brought against individuals involved in Wednesday's deadly pro-Trump riot at the Capitol building.Richard Barnett, the man who was photographed with his foot up on a desk in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) when supporters of President Trump breached the Capitol building, was arrested Friday on charges of "entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry and theft of public property," NBC News reports. Barnett had openly bragged about his role in the riot, telling The New York Times he wrote Pelosi "a nasty note" while showing an envelope he took from her office.Meanwhile, Derrick Evans, a West Virginia state representative, was charged Friday after he recorded a video of himself storming the Capitol during the riot, NBC News reported. A lawyer for Evans previously told a CBS affiliate he would ignore calls to resign and that he "committed no criminal act that day."Ken Kohl of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Friday that "we literally have hundreds of prosecutors and agents working from three command centers on what is really a 24-7 operation" following the riot, per HuffPost. He added, "It is active, it is fluid, it is evolving."More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Capitol riot There will be no Trump heir Will the legislature fight back?

  • Rioter photographed hanging on Congress wall claims he was telling others to respect ‘sacred ground’

    Protestor says his companions wanted to ‘trash the place’ but he urged them to respect the ground

  • Hong Kong grants bail to arrested pro-democracy activists

    Authorities in Hong Kong said Friday they have granted bail to most of the 55 pro-democracy activists who were arrested this week in a sweeping crackdown on dissent. One of the activists said they could still be charged under a tough national security law. The activists were accused of taking part in an unofficial primary election last year that authorities said was part of a plan to paralyze the Legislative Council and subvert state power.

  • Ad•searchlime

    Here's What Full Mouth Dental Implants Should Cost

    The Price Of Dental Implants May Actually Surprise You. Research Dental Implants For Seniors

  • Malaysia PM to announce new COVID-19 measures as deaths hit daily record

    Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will announce new measures next week to curb a surge in coronavirus cases, a senior minister said on Friday, as the country reported its highest daily number of deaths linked to the epidemic. The Southeast Asian nation has seen a spike in infections since September, with the number of daily reported cases climbing to record highs on two days this week. Muhyiddin will announce new measures to tackle the virus surge on Monday, security minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters.

  • Chicago police union president: Saying riots are ‘treason’ is ‘beyond ridiculous’

    ‘They get to do what they want,’ John Catanzara said of people whose efforts left a police officer dead. John Catanzara, who was elected last May as the president of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, is defending the people who participated in the violent siege of the U.S. Capitol that resulted in the death of a police officer.

  • Inside the Charming Parisian Apartment of French Designer Sarah Poniatowski

    Located directly under the roof, Poniatowski’s idyllic Right Bank apartment is flooded with light, flea market finds, and the designer’s very own collectionOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Ad•LeafFilter Partner

    Do This Instead of Cleaning Gutters (It's Genius)

    Why gutter cleaning companies hide this from homeowners! See for yourself how you can easily stop gutter cleaning for life and increase home value.

  • Latest message from North Korea's Kim meant to light 'a fire under' Biden administration, experts say

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called the United States his biggest enemy and vowed to subdue Washington while enhancing Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal, the state's North Korean Central News Agency reported Saturday, per Bloomberg.Kim's aggressive remarks, especially those related to nuclear weapons, are viewed by experts as a message to the incoming Biden administration. "It lights a fire under the Biden administration," Ankit Panda, a Stanton Senior Fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Bloomberg. "Kim is making clear that if Biden decides not to prioritize North Korea policy, Pyongyang will resume testing and qualitatively advancing its nuclear capabilities in ways that would be seriously detrimental for Washington and Seoul."Cheon Seong-whun, a former president of the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification think tank in Seoul, added that Kim is trying to pressure Biden into accepting North Korea as a nuclear state, and he expects Pyongyang to move forward with a series of provocations when after the White House transition.It's not a new strategy for Pyongyang, which has a history of trying to rattle new American presidents, Bloomberg notes. Former President Barack Obama and President Trump both saw North Korea test a series of weapons upon taking office. Read more at Bloomberg.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Capitol riot There will be no Trump heir Will the legislature fight back?

  • How Twitter users reacted to Donald Trump ban: Suspicion, anger . . . and lots of taking the mick

    Donald Trump was banned from Twitter on Friday after the social network said his tweets "risk further incitement of violence". The US president has been accused of using social media to whip up the hate groups, fascists and white supremacists who marched on the Capitol on Wednesday. After his ban from the platform was announced, Twitter users mostly reacted with ridicule and memes. Some users responded with ironic lamentations that, after 56,571 tweets, the President's long and eventful Twitter career appeared to be over.

  • Pakistani PM asks Shiites to bury coal miners killed by IS

    Pakistan's prime minister on Friday appealed on protesting minority Shiites not to link the burial of 11 coal miners from their Hazara community, killed by the Islamic State group last week, to demands that he visit the mourners. Saying that the miners would not be buried until he visits the protesters amounts to blackmail, said Prime Minister Imran Khan. Since Sunday, hundreds of mourners have been rallying despite cold weather in Quetta, beside the coffins of the miners.

  • Ad•Nordace Smart Backpack

    Travellers in United States are Amazed By This Backpack

    This Backpack is Packed with Features That Makes Travel, Business, and Everyday Use a Breeze! You'll Never Go Back to Normal Backpack Anymore!

  • Rioters who stormed US Capitol now face backlash at work

    A printing company in Maryland saw the photo on Twitter Wednesday night: an employee roaming the halls of the U.S. Capitol with a company badge around his neck. Others are facing similar repercussions at work for their participation in Wednesday's riot at the U.S. Capitol. The printing company, Navistar Direct Marketing, declined to name the worker but said it can’t offer employment to people “demonstrating dangerous conduct that endangers the health and safety of others.”

  • GOP Sen. Josh Hawley loses book deal, mentor, major donor after Capitol assault, gains 2 scathing editorials

    If Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) thought leading the small band of Republican senators to challenge President-elect Joe Biden's electoral victory on Wednesday would benefit him politically, it appears the opposite happened.On Thursday, political mentor former Sen. John Danforth (R-Mo.) called supporting Hawley's Senate bid "the worst mistake I ever made in my life," a GOP donor who gave millions to his campaigns denounced him as "a political opportunist willing to subvert the Constitution," Simon & Schuster canceled his book deal, and Missouri's two biggest newspapers called on him to resign immediately.> From our Francis Chung, Sen. Josh Hawley greeting protesters in the east side of the Capitol before riots began. pic.twitter.com/I8DjBCDuoP> > — Manuel Quinones (@ManuelQ) January 6, 2021"If Hawley had shown any evidence that there’s a conscience in there somewhere, underneath the ambition and the artifice and the uncommon combo of striving and laziness that he's somehow made work for him," he'd resign, The Kansas City Star said in an editorial. "We can't appeal to a sense of decency that doesn't exist. But we can say that Hawley, who gave a raised fist of encouragement to the likes of that proud lout who put his feet up on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's desk, cannot continue to be our man in Washington, and so will have to be expelled." The Senate, the Star editorialists added, "must do more than censure his treasonous behavior.""Hawley's tardy, cover-his-ass condemnation of the violence ranks at the top of his substantial list of phony, smarmy, and politically expedient declarations," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said in an editorial. "Hawley's presidential aspirations have been flushed down the toilet because of his role in instigating Wednesday's assault on democracy. He should do Missourians and the rest of the country a big favor and resign now."Joplin businessman David Humphreys, who personally and with his family largely bankrolled Hawley's state attorney general and Senate races, told the Missouri Independent on Thursday that Hawley "has shown his true colors as an anti-democracy populist by supporting Trump's false claim of a 'stolen election,'" and urged the Senate to censure him.Simon & Schuster, meanwhile, said it "cannot support Sen. Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom."> pic.twitter.com/NdIkmGbCFI> > — Simon & Schuster (@simonschuster) January 7, 2021Hawley said Simon & Schuster was making a "direct assault on the First Amendment" and threatened to sue for breach of contract.More stories from theweek.com 7 scathing cartoons about Trump's Capitol riot There will be no Trump heir Will the legislature fight back?

  • U.S. Supreme Court's Breyer in retirement spotlight after Democratic wins

    With Democrats securing control of the U.S. Senate, some liberal activists are calling for liberal Justice Stephen Breyer to make retirement plans so Democratic President-elect Joe Biden quickly can appoint a successor to the Supreme Court's oldest member. Breyer, 82, has served on the nation's top judicial body since 1994, having been appointed by a Democratic president, Bill Clinton. Republican President Donald Trump, due to leave office on Jan. 20, appointed three justices during his four-year term, moving the court rightward with a 6-3 conservative majority.