Donald Trump Jr. speaks Wednesday, January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC, before the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
On Saturday, Donald Trump Jr. took condemned Twitter’s decision to permanently ban his father, President Trump, from the platform, saying “free speech is dead and controlled by leftist overlords.”
In a tweet, Trump Jr. said, “The world is laughing at America & Mao, Lenin, & Stalin are smiling.” He continued, “Big tech is able to censor the President? Free speech is dead & controlled by leftist overlords.”
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The world is laughing at America & Mao, Lenin, & Stalin are smiling. Big tech is able to censor the President? Free speech is dead & controlled by leftist overlords.
In case I’m next stay connected by simply signing up now at https://t.co/835EajP4SI
I’ll let u know where I land.— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 9, 2021
His comments that were posted on Twitter echos the statements he made on Friday saying that freedom of speech no longer exists in America. Trump Jr. added that free speech “died with big tech, and what’s left is only there for a chosen few.”
On Friday evening, Twitter said that President Trump would be permanently banned from Tweeting. The President, who primarily uses his Twitter account to communicate with millions of Americans, was permanently banned from using his social media account.
The permanent ban by the social media platform was made after the U.S. Capitol was stormed by protesters last Wednesday as the lawmakers are having a session in relation to the certification of the Electoral College vote.
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they didn’t “breach” or “storm” the capitol building THEY WERE LET IN pic.twitter.com/SVeo6BcFV0
— a ✜ ⁷ 🌖 (@moonddng) January 6, 2021
Previously, Trump had been talking to his supporters by posting messages on his Twitter account, as part of the “Stop the Steal” movement. He alleges that his loss to Joe Biden resulted from widespread voter fraud.
However, the social media company decided on Friday to ban the President from using the social media platform that he uses to talk to millions of American people. In their statement, Twitter announced, “After a close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them. We have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
Shortly after Trump’s account on Twitter was permanently banned, he attempted to post on the platform using the @POTUS Twitter account. However, Twitter almost immediately removed the posts as well. It has also banned a Twitter account that is connected with his 2020 presidential campaign.
After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.https://t.co/CBpE1I6j8Y
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021
Meanwhile, a growing number of conservatives announced that they would start using Parler – a social media platform called conservatives’ alternative to Twitter.
Before permanently suspending Trump’s account, it was previously suspended for 12 hours. However, the President was warned by the social media platform that they could take further action if he continues to violate Twitter’s “policies on civic integrity and making violent threats.”
The censorship made by the social media platform is not new. Republicans have also long complained about the censorship that these big tech companies have been imposing on the social media accounts of Republicans. In recent months, they have also taken more stringent actions against “disinformation and misinformation on their platforms.”
In addition to these, much of President Trump’s 2020 tweets carried a disclaimer saying that reputable sources rebuked his posts’ content.
Big Tech are the only companies in America that virtually have absolute immunity from being sued for their actions, and it’s only because Congress gave them that protection.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 9, 2021
It is now time for Congress to repeal Section 230 and put Big Tech on the same legal footing as every other company in America. Legal accountability.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 9, 2021
Due to these, Republicans asked for the repeal of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA). This CDA gives big tech companies the ability to determine how they can moderate the content. It also protects social media platforms from being liable for their user’s posts.
Republican lawmakers also believe that said law enables these big tech companies’ to censor conservatives. Even Democrats have also raised concerns about Section 230. They believe said law affords these tech giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Google, too great protections.
Due to the ongoing censorship of conservatives, Trump Jr. encouraged his followers on Saturday to sign up for his email blasts so they could still be updated in case his account also ends up being banned by Twitter.
