Social Media vs Trump

Over the last few months, both Twitter and Facebook have labelled misleading posts from Mr Trump about 3 November’s presidential election.

Mr Trump has repeatedly made baseless claims the election was stolen. There had been calls for platforms to ban Mr Trump to stop the spread of misinformation, while the platforms previously argued Mr Trump’s account was necessary for the public interest.

On Tuesday, before he boarded a helicopter to travel from Alamo, Texas, back to the White House, President Trump spoke to reporters about his ban on several social media sites, including Twitter and Facebook.

“I think that big tech is doing a horrible thing for our country and to our country and I believe it is going to be a catastrophic mistake for them," he said. "They’re dividing and divisive and they’re showing something that I’ve been predicting for a long time."

Twitch, Spotify, Snapchat, and Shopify all did the same in the days that followed, while YouTube and TikTok announced new restrictions about posts in support of Mr Trump’s actions on their platforms. The suspensions effectively ban the current president from mainstream social media.

For better or worse, Facebook and Twitter have created digital versions of the public square. Our notions of "free speech" are grounded in the idea that a democracy is made healthier by the existence of a marketplace of ideas, and the belief that censorship is ultimately a weapon of tyranny that keeps the powerful in power and crushes minority opinions.