Angela Merkel calls Trump's Twitter ban 'problematic' because freedom of opinion is a ‘fundamental right’

THE leader of Germany thinks Donald Trump's Twitter ban is "problematic".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's official spokesperson today said she felt uncomfortable with how the ban was imposed by "the management of social media platforms".

The President's personal and campaign Twitter accounts were permanently suspended by the platform Friday "due to the risk of further incitement of violence" following the Capitol riots.

Ms Merkel, a long-term critic of the President said she was "furious and saddened" by the series of angry tweets fired off from Mr Trump's various accounts which led to his removal from the app.

Following the Twitter rampage she said: "I regret that since November President Trump has not acknowledged his defeat and also yesterday."

But today her spokesman Steffan Seibert added: "The chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the US president have been permanently blocked'.

"The fundamental right to freedom of opinion is a fundamental right of elementary importance.

"This fundamental right can be interfered with, but through the law and within the framework defined by the legislature, not according to the decision of the management of social media platforms."

Mr Seibert said the Chancellor felt that while the social media giant was right to flag the content, banning him was "a step too far".

France's Minister for Economy, Bruno Le Maire, also voiced doubts over the severity of the ban.

He said that ultimately decisions of that nature should be taken by elected officials rather than tech giants.

Trump said he predicted that Twitter would try to silence him and that the company would not exist for long if it were not for Section 230, which protects websites from lawsuits if users post illegal content.

The president said he has been negotiation with "various other sites" and would have a "big announcement soon," and possibly build his own platform.

"We will not be SILENCED! Twitter is not about FREE SPEECH," Trump tweeted: "They are all about promoting a Radical Left platform where some of the most viscous people in the world are allowed to speak freely."

In a tweet on Friday evening, Twitter Safety wrote: "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."

The social media network explained that its public interest framework is designed to allow the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly and is built on the principle that "people have a right to hold power to account in the open."

Twitter Safety said that such accounts are not above its rules and that leaders "cannot use Twitter to incite violence, among other things."

The social media company said it would continue to be transparent about its polices and enforcing them, and provided a "comprehensive analysis" of its approach in Trump's case.

The company also said in another statement that it would respect government accounts but only if it does not break its rules.

"As we’ve said, using another account to try to evade a suspension is against our rules. We have taken steps to enforce this with regard to recent Tweets from the @POTUS account," the company told TechCrunch.

"For government accounts, such as @POTUS and @WhiteHouse, we will not suspend those accounts permanently but will take action to limit their use."

Source: Read Full Article