If Problematic Speech Is Banned Online, at Least Be Consistent
MINOT, N.D. — President Donald Trump has been banned from Twitter, as you might have heard. In their official justification for the ban, the social media giant claimed that Trump violated their policies against violence’s glorification.
Taken at face value, I think Twitter makes a defensible argument, even if it’s not one I agree with.
The problem is that they’re not exactly consistent with this stuff.
For instance, the President of the United States is no longer allowed on Twitter, but Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, a country that publicly executes people because of their sexual orientation, is still tweeting.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry and sundry other agencies and official representatives of the world’s largest Communist dictatorship still have access to Twitter. China has violently suppressed pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, arrested and executed political dissenters, and maintains millions of ethnic and religious minorities in concentration camps.
