More important, though, was the timing. Twitter has ignored Trump’s line-crossing for so long that any move it makes now invites an accusation that it’s trying to influence voters. Had it taken action the first time the president abused its platform, it would have set a precedent that no one was above Twitter rules. By waiting until now, it has delivered exactly the opposite message.
Some readers might argue that the public has an interest in hearing whatever the president wants to say, on any platform. That’s nonsense. The president has a unique platform of his own that he can use at any hour of any day. When he ventures onto Twitter, Facebook or any other nongovernmental space, he is leveraging someone else’s resources to broadcast his thoughts. He has no entitlement to do so — no one does.
Under a provision of federal communications law known as Section 230, Twitter has a clear right to enforce its terms of service against any user who violates them. And given that it’s a private company,and not an arm of government, there are no 1st Amendment issues in play. In fact, Twitter has its own 1st Amendment speech right to mark offending tweets as it sees fit.
But conservatives have campaigned steadily in recent years to turn those rights into liabilities, arguing that Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other online powerhouses have been biased against their tribe. Never mind that thehave been extremists like Alex Jones of Infowars . The point is to play the victim card over and over, so that Twitter and company will hesitate to act even against obviously improper posts.
So what might Trump’s “big action” be? He can’t simply create a new watchdog to oversee the tech giants because, again, they are protected by Section 230. But there may be a legislative play; some Republicans are trying to weaken or even undo that shield because they believe it protects too much bad behavior. That’s why Congress
opinion Freedom of the press, but not freedom of speech...this from your local newspaper. The hypocrisy is is evident to all...except the hypocrites.
opinion Yes they did, but it’s not too late,.,giving up is the problem..not willing to fight to get it back is the problem. Watching USA go thru this..not necessary. It’s so preventable. Stop, shut down again. Shut down.
opinion Gonna be difficult to convince folks who pick and choose their adherence to 'free speech' principles that Twitter's move is itself protected by the First Amendment.
opinion
opinion Trump use of twitter while being POTUS is wrong. No accountability for tweets while being POTUS. Read his tweets, now imagine each tweet being said to a group of reporters from the press. They could and would demand accountability right then? Can Twitter hold the same standards?
opinion We r not China and my family r forefathers worked died bleed to create the only country where u r given the power&the people r the one that decides their own life! We will not go down without a fight we will not be silenced on submission! We will only bow to God not government!
opinion But his base, victims to the truth like he is won’t care, they’ll just drone on about ridiculous, easily debunked conspiracy nonsense, at least non twitter you can tell how you really feel, unlike ultra Frump Facebook.
opinion So what I was sayin is if r country is so evil leave2china the country U democrats communist seem2obey&love! No one is makin u stay&be so hurt by all the evil doers in America but u may not infringe rewrite and put in place this idea the only voice that is right is ur propaganda!
opinion By not being honest journalist that report fakes not propaganda and divide r people by lies and misleading the facts2fit ur narrative is criminal! Y is it that the left hates this country so bad but doesn’t leave! If r country has so many white racist evil people Y dont u move!
opinion This is illegal Nd will not end well! This is the President! How do u think u have the right2now infringe on Americans that r for foundation values but the President he has the right2inform he’s citizens 2 the dangers of is going on! Nd mail-in-voting is a huge way to fraud!!
opinion
opinion But it’s just fine for other politicians to peddle conspiracies FOR YEARS about Russian agents, US traitors, Putin puppets, salacious sex tapes from Russia hotel rooms...beware ANY selective censorship under the guise of “truth”. 🤔
opinion What rules except propaganda we have the right as American of freedom of speech twitter and YouTube Facebook r giving no government guild lines bc they r suppose these social media and we he people not journalist! These apps r now infringing on r constitution bc of politicians!
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: politico - 🏆 381. / 59 Read more »
Source: CNN - 🏆 4. / 95 Read more »
Source: NPR - 🏆 96. / 63 Read more »
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »
Source: YahooNews - 🏆 380. / 59 Read more »