Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former chief security officer, said social media companies should urgently cut off the President to prevent further clashes
Credit: MICHAEL REYNOLDS//Shutterstock
Facebook and Twitter are under mounting pressure to permanently ban President Donald Trump from their platforms after violence erupted on Capitol Hill last night.
Alex Stamos, Facebook’s former chief security officer, said social media companies should urgently cut off the President to prevent further clashes. “There are no legitimate equities left and labeling won’t do it,” he tweeted.
“You’ve got blood on your hands, @jack and Zuck,” tweeted venture capitalist Chris Sacca, a well-known early Twitter investor. “For four years you’ve rationalised this terror. Inciting violent treason is not a free speech exercise. If you work at those companies, it’s on you too. Shut it down.”
There have been good arguments for private companies to not silence elected officials, but all those arguments are predicated on the protection of constitutional governance.
Twitter and Facebook have to cut him off. There are no legitimate equities left and labeling won't do it. pic.twitter.com/Nji6A4sJum
— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) January 6, 2021
Alex Holmes, who is part of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council, also called on the platform to shut down Trump’s accounts after a mob of his supporters stormed the house of Congress to protest the election result.
Four people died, one of them a woman who was shot and killed by police inside the Capitol. Three other people died after suffering "medical emergencies" related to the breach, according to Robert Contee, chief of Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department.
“It’s time Twitter deactivated Trump’s account for law & order!” Holmes tweeted. “Realise President of United States but action needs to be taken when someone is inciting violence & threat to safety!”
Pro-Trump protesters storm into the U.S. Capitol during clashes with police
Credit: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
In the past, Facebook and Twitter’s line in the sand was often drawn at the prospect of real-world harm. As a result of the high bar, the companies let most of the president’s statements stay online, which led to a pileup of misinformation, critics have said.
“When you don’t have the courage as the leader to tell people the truth, you end up getting people that believe the conspiracies and the false truths and you get a Capitol storm like today,” said Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois on CNN.
Celebrities have also joined in with the criticism. On Twitter, Elon Musk posted: "This is called the domino effect" alongside a meme showing how Facebook started out as "a website to rate women on campus" and evolved to inspire "a man in a viking hat" to take control of The Capitol.
The comedian, Sascha Baron Cohen, also used Twitter to say: "Facebook and Twitter have banned other extremists PERMANENTLY. They must ban Trump PERMANENTLY. NOW!"
For others, a permanent ban does not go far enough. Roger NcNamee, Mark Zuckerberg’s former mentor and an early investor in Facebook was calling for a greater overhaul of policies governing social media platforms.
"As tempting as it is to blame Trump and his enablers for all of this, it’s very clear that Facebook and YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and others has played a huge role," he said on MSNBC.
"Without them, you couldn’t organise the events, you couldn’t share all this information and people couldn’t be sucked into these worlds of alternative realities."
This is called the domino effect pic.twitter.com/qpbEW54RvM
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 7, 2021
The tech platforms acted swiftly last night to pull down Trump’s posts on charges they. aggravated violence, but many claimed it was too little, too late.
Twitter locked Trump out of his account for 12 hours and said that future violations by Trump could result in a permanent suspension.
However Andrew Yang, former Presidential candidate for the Democrats, said: "Twitter bans for inciting violence should last for months or years not hours."
The company also required the removal of three of Trump’s tweets, including a short video in which he urged those supporters to "go home" while also repeating falsehoods about the integrity of the presidential election.
Trump’s account deleted those posts, Twitter said; had they remained, Twitter had threatened to extend his suspension.
Facebook and Instagram, which Facebook owns, followed up in the evening, announcing that Trump wouldn’t be able to post for 24 hours following two violations of its policies. The White House did not immediately offer a response to the actions.
While some cheered the platforms’ actions, experts noted that the companies’ actions follow years of hemming and hawing on Trump and his supporters spreading dangerous misinformation and encouraging violence that have contributed to Wednesday’s violence.
Twitter bans for inciting violence should last for months or years not hours.
— Andrew Yang🧢🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) January 7, 2021
Jennifer Grygiel, a Syracuse University communications professor and an expert on social media, said Wednesday’s events in Washington, D.C. are a direct result of Trump’s use of social media to spread propaganda and disinformation, and that the platforms should bear some responsibility for their inaction.
"This is what happens," said Grygiel. "We didn’t just see a breach at the Capitol. Social media platforms have been breached by the president repeatedly. This is disinformation. This was a coup attempt in the United States."
Nancy Wang Yuen, professor of sociology at Biola University, said: "It is a moral imperative that Twitter deletes Trump’s account and ban him."
Civil rights groups, including The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Texas-based Latinx organization Jolt Action, were also pushing for a permanent ban.
Rashad Robinson, President of Color of Change said: "Ban him permanently. He’s done enough damage. Do not allow him to return in a day to continue to spread dangerous [misinformation]."
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