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Will Donald Trump Shutdown Facebook And Twitter Ahead Of November Elections 2020?

The United States President, Donald Trump seems to be on a warpath with Twitter for what he claims is an infringement on free speech rights. In this article, we will attempt to chronicle the incidents that led to this tussle.

 

Recently, Trump had, in many tweets, suggested that the police reopen a case against TV presenter and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough. In those tweets, the President had suggested that the death of one of the Congressman’s aides, Lori Klausutis, in an accident deserves more investigation.

 

While the President’s tweets had angered many people; Klausutis’ widower had personally written to Jack Dorsey to remove Trump’s tweets. He mentioned that the posts were resurrecting pain that the family preferred to stay buried.

 

However, until now, the posts have remained intact. Likely because as a President, Donald Trump’s posts have protected status. But Twitter managed to scorch Trump on Tuesday night after he made some posts claiming that US elections featured fraudulent ballots. While the social media company could not pull down the post or suspend the account, it did the next best thing.

 

According to a BBC report, when some users came across Trump’s election rant; they saw strapline that linked to what Twitter tagged “facts about mail-in ballots”. This in turn led users to articles on CNN and Washington Post that debunked Trump’s claims. The President did not take the visible chastening sitting down, he wrote in response:

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“Twitter is completely stifling free speech, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen.”

 

If this was not enough to signal a brewing disagreement, his next tweets suggest it. On Wednesday 27th May 2020, Trump posted:

 

“Republicans feel that social-media platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen.

 

“We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that… happen again – just like we can’t let largescale mail-in ballots take root in our country.

 

“It would be a free-for-all on cheating, forgery and the theft of ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, social media. Clean up your act, now.”

 

The above was broken into a two-part tweet. Combining this with a post the US President made last week about “the radical left” having command over “Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google” may mean more than the eye can see.

 

However, with elections scheduled for November 2020, it is unlikely that Donald Trump would launch an open attack against Twitter and Facebook. Also, since they are private companies; they have the right to regulate content as they see fit.

 

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Onwuasoanya Obinna

A reader of books and stringer of words. Passionate about Science and Tech. When not writing or reading he is surfing the web and Tweeting.

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