“Amazing that this is his most recent tweet, intact in amber like a two year old mosquito.” The quote is from journalist Mike Isaac on Donald Trump’s latest post on Twitter. Dated January 8, 2021, it reads: “For all of you who have asked, I will not go to the opening on January 20”. Since that day, the permanent suspension made the former US president lose forever the ability to interact on Twitter, but Elon Musk has restored that right. And what was once imperishable in amber can come back to life.
And I say Power why Donald Trump has refused to tweet since the end of his suspension last Saturday. One reason may have to do with his commitment to Truth Social, the platform he founded more than a year ago, which requires his social media posts to be exclusive for at least six hours.
But whether he tweets or not, Donald Trump’s return to Twitter has created deep controversy. The right rooted for Elon Musk, while the Democratic camp and various civil rights groups They denounced the decision. The clash of positions has generated a debate reminiscent of the one that took place in January 2021, when Trump’s account was permanently suspended. But with two differences that are the protagonists of the most important discussions:
- It has been almost two years since the suspension.
- Trump is running for president again.
But why has Elon Musk lifted Donald Trump’s ban on Twitter just now? Why was it suspended in the first place? And above all, what arguments are used in the United States to defend or criticize the decision of the new head of Twitter?
Donald Trump on Twitter, a story of heartbreak
Donald Trump’s suspension on Twitter dates back to the 2020 presidential elections. Already during the election campaign, the former president had spread lies that had allowed him to lay the foundations of his narratives against an alleged electoral fraud that he never managed to prove .
- First, by attacking mail-in voting, a form of electoral participation that became more accessible in 2020 due to the pandemic.
- Second, by increasing suspicions among his supporters that Democrats were planning to use mail-in voting to steal the election.
- And finally, stating that his defeat in that year’s elections was produced exclusively by the pucherazo of the Democrats.
Trump has managed to spread many of those falsehoods through Twitter, a platform that has defined him as much as he has defined her. The virality of his lies, insults to his rivals or discrimination against marginalized groups and minorities have been constantly covered by the media.
But even that didn’t stop him from becoming the person with the most powerful job on the face of the Earth. Neither disinformation or discrimination triggered a suspension. The red line was drawn on January 6, 2021, the day of the assault on the Capitol, with these two tweets:
- “The 75,000,000 great American patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN will have a GIANT VOICE in the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way!!!”
- “To everyone who’s asked, I’m not going to the opening on January 20.”
From Twitter they determined that these tweets went too far because the they interpreted as follows:
- The first, because he legitimized the actions of his followers during the Assault on the Capitol due to that alleged non-existent electoral fraud.
- And the second, because it defined Joe Biden’s inauguration as president in Washington as a sure target for those who wanted to carry out more violence.
A decision resulting from a transcendental moment
There was a large cast of voices in those days calling for the immediate suspension of Donald Trump on Twitter. But I want to shine a spotlight on a number of influential figures who have spent years covering the world of Silicon Valley in general and social media moderation policies in particular.
BenThompson, from the Stratechery technology newsletter, explained in 2016 that Trump’s insults, discrimination, or lies can and should generate rejection, but that shouldn’t be a justification for networks to veto him. Especially considering that he was the president of the United States, democratically elected by the people. According to Thompson, platform priorities should be guided by the following order:
- Liberalism is inviolable.
- Democracy must be respected.
- Bad policies must be criticized.
Most of Trump’s behavior falls under the third point, according to Thompson. If Trump discriminates, insults, or lies, those who disagree should stand up to him.
- And this was the situation until January 2021, when the risks against democracy and the very freedom of individuals and companies that manage the platforms were put at risk by a president who did not want to make a peaceful transition of power.
- Yes, respecting democracy is a reason not to go beyond political disagreements, however horrific the policies enacted, but preserving democracy is, by definition, even higher up the priority ladder,” Thompson signed.
CaseyNewton, Journalist for the Platformer Technology newsletter, defended a similar position at the time. For him it was “necessary and urgent” that Twitter and Facebook suspend Donald Trump’s accounts because the former president was using his platforms “to overthrow the government and the rule of law”. But despite the weight of those reasons, Newton admitted this week that “those worries may seem a little far away now that Trump has been weakened” by his medium-term losses.
But what happens after so long?
Gilad Edelman, from the web on Wired technologyalso wrote in January 2021 a slightly different approach.
- Edelman understands that Twitter has made the decision to suspend Donald Trump’s Twitter account. But not for his tweets, but for how his constituents read them.
- Twitter suspended Trump because his followers interpreted the president as legitimizing their outrages or even encouraging them to continue committing them, according to Edelman.
- “However, it’s not a sustainable approach to content moderation in the future. [porque] few people could resist in a system where users are penalized for their followers’ crazy performances,” Edelman wrote.
In the case of Donald Trump in particular, he is the most popular figure in the Republican party. Also, from a candidate who last ran for president garnered nearly 75 million votes. And as such, many would argue that you have access to speakers like the one Twitter offers.
- France, Germany yes Mexico, through several representatives of their governments, have criticized the suspension of Twitter. They believe that the political repercussions are dangerous.
- Other American political leaders at Trump’s ideological antipodes such as Bernie Sanders they also believe that Twitter and Facebook went overboard with their suspensions.
- And the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) supports the reinstatement of Donald Trump’s Twitter account from 2021.
The difficulties of moderating in Trump’s time
“Like it or not, President Trump is one of the most important political figures in this country and the public has a great interest in hearing his speech,” the ACLU wrote this week. Indeed, some of Trump’s most offensive tweets have ended up as critical evidence in lawsuits filed against him and his administration. And we should know because we’ve filed more than 400 lawsuits against him.
Moderation in the age of social media is mission impossible. Each case requires context and analysis that neither platforms nor artificial intelligence can currently handle.
- Mike Massnick, from tech blog TechDirtsaid this week that a few years ago they did an experiment with eight content moderation experts presenting eight different cases.
- Masnick says they couldn’t get those guests to agree on anything, almost always choosing different solutions (and defending them).
A different case: that of Alex Jones
Social networks follow somewhat the same trail. Twitter and Facebook have invoked their platforms’ usage policies to justify the suspension of Donald Trump. But that doesn’t mean they were fair or consistent with how they had enforced those same standards in the past. And something similar is happening with Elon Musk and Twitter right now.
- The entrepreneur said he would entrust decision-making like that of the Trump account to an expert council, but ended up relying on a public poll on Twitter to justify the former president’s return to the platform he now runs.
- Elon Musk has returned their accounts to other celebrities with a history of violating the rules of the platform, such as Kanye West or Kathy Griffin, but stressed on his Twitter account that these refunds had a limit: Alex Jones.
Elon Musk defended the decision on Jones and Twitter with a personal anecdote: “My firstborn died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for those who use the death of children to win, whether in politics than in fame.The conspiracy theorist was sentenced to pay hundreds of millions of dollars for his lies about the Sandy Hook school shooting.
“This, in part, demonstrates the problem,” explains Newton in his newsletter. “Musk recognizes the potential damage in one area of trauma that he has personally suffered, but he seems to have no concern at all with the damage others have suffered.” In other words, ultimately the decision comes down to what Musk wants. And that fuels an accusation that may not have been true in the past, but is in this case: Moderation decisions could depend entirely on what a billionaire landlord wants.
Donald Trump on Twitter: Does it make sense now?
Which brings us back to Thompson’s ranking of priorities. Trump’s threat to American democracy came at a specific time when platforms could step in to stop something the rule of law was unable to regulate or prosecute in time.
- Trump has been tried indictment as a result of his behavior in the assault on the Capitol, but weeks after it occurred and without reaching a vote in favor of the sentence.
- And there is at least one federal investigation investigating Trump’s role in the storming of the Capitolbut it is still ongoing and it is not clear whether it can reach any port.
With the wheels of the rule of law turning and Trump announcing a new run for president, does it make sense for platforms to continue to suspend their accounts?
- In case the answer is Yes, the question is whether there will be a limit in the future. If Twitter sees imminent danger in Donald Trump’s new posts, encouraging behaviors like those seen in the storming of the Capitol, should Elon Musk or his platform do something about it?
- In case the answer is No, what implications does it have for all those users with their accounts suspended for life? How can they, who are not Trump, take back the speakers offered by platforms like Twitter?
Trump’s suspension is an issue that above all can and should be extrapolated to other mortals. Figures like Edelman they believe permanent suspensions could have detrimental effects for users without the summoning power of politicians like Trump. But a lot will depend on whether the platforms moderate fairly and consistently going forward. And no one is betting that this is the case in a company that has lost more than two-thirds of its employees in the last month.
