Could Twitter delete Trump’s account if he loses election? President will lose protection afforded to world leaders and would be subject to censorship rules that expelled Alex Jones
- Donald Trump’s presidency has been defined by late-night outbursts on Twitter
- For four years president has used Twitter to bypass mainstream media outlets
- Like all world leaders, Trump is immune to Twitter’s disinformation crackdown
- If he loses the White House he will no longer be protected and could be deleted
Donald Trump‘s presidency has been defined by late-night outbursts on Twitter – but now failure to be reelected could see him lose his account.
He is currently covered by a policy that essentially gives world leaders free reign to post anything without being banned.
Yet if Biden wins the White House and Trump leaves office in January, he will be stripped of this immunity and faces having tweets removed or his account deleted.
Such action was taken against conspiracist radio host Alex Jones in 2018 for spreading baseless allegations including that Democrats were plotting to wage a civil war.
Since polls closed Trump has repeatedly made baseless allegations of voter fraud and claimed the Democrats are trying to ‘steal’ the election.
Rather than being taken down, Twitter has slapped them with warnings and prevented them from being shared, yet if he continues to air misleading claims as a citizen he could be deleted.
Donald Trump arrives to speak in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington
Trump is using his favorite social media platform to make so-far unsubstantiated accusations of voter fraud, tweeting that Democrats are trying to ‘steal the election’
For four years the president has used Twitter to bypass mainstream media outlets, which he calls ‘fake news’, and telegraph his direct thoughts to the world.
In just 280 characters he has shaken markets, ridiculed his opponents and shattered traditional avenues of diplomacy by stoking tension with global leaders.
Immunity from censorship stems from a company policy called ‘public interest interstitial’ so heads of government are not censored.
Twitter said in a statement last year: ‘A critical function of our service is providing a place where people can openly and publicly respond to their leaders and hold them accountable.
‘With this in mind, there are certain cases where it may be in the public’s interest to have access to certain tweets, even if they would otherwise be in violation of our rules.’
Trump in turn took aim at Twitter, with which he has repeatedly slammed
The site took such action by permanently banning conspiracist radio host Alex Jones (pictured yesterday in Arizona) in 2018 for spreading baseless allegations including that Democrats were plotting to wage a civil war
While he remains in the Oval Office, Trump is protected from Twitter’s bans and is only hamstrung with warnings slapped on posts deemed to be misleading.
If Trump loses he will become a former world leader and could see his posts removed altogether, rather than just accompanied with a disclaimer, and if he racks up multiple ‘strikes’, banned completely.
Last night the president railed against what he claimed to be ‘illegal votes’ in battleground states which are pulling in for Biden.
Twitter put a warning on the post and restricted followers from retweeting or liking it, as they have done with similar Trump tweets throughout the election.
Twitter banned Bannon’s War Room account permanently. Twitter said it suspended the podcast account for violating ‘our policy on the glorification of violence’
Trump in turn took aim at Twitter, with which he has repeatedly slammed, and tweeted: ‘Twitter is out of control, made possible through the government gift of Section 230!’
Section 230 effectively shields social media sites from being held responsible for posts uploaded to their platforms.
If he loses, observers have mooted Trump could use the last few months of his presidency to bring social media giants to heel.
He has long railed against Twitter for a pro-Democrat bias, as have his allies.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnaney had her personal account suspended last month after sharing an article about Hunter Biden.
Yesterday Twitter banned former White House strategist Steve Bannon after he suggested Dr. Fauci and FBI director Chris Wray be beheaded for not being pro-Trump enough.
Twitter said it suspended the podcast account for violating ‘our policy on the glorification of violence’.