From a young age, I can always remember begging my parents for the new, hot social media app. First I wanted Facebook, then Instagram, then eventually Snapchat and most recently Twitter. It would take a lot of convincing, and I never understood why. My parents always repeated the same mantra: “Social media can be a dangerous thing.”
I never really believed them until now. Granted, their reasons then were not the same as in the present day, but the sentiment definitely rings true.
As I’m sure you all know by now, President Trump has been permanently banned from Twitter.
If you aren’t a fan of the president, you are probably rejoicing over this, but let me stop you for a second and tell you why this is a disaster.
Let me start by saying that the acts that took place in the U.S. Capitol a few weeks ago were beyond atrocious. They were un-American, and anyone involved should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law — as should all who riot or act in violence.
However, we cannot let that horrific event define what freedom of speech means in this country.
One of the things that makes the United States so different and special is that our Constitution protects freedom of speech. In fact, the Constitution protects all speech: the good, the bad and the very, very ugly (unless, of course, it falls into one of the strictly prohibited categories).
Therefore, Twitter should stop its targeted silencing. Hiding behind the label of a private company and the liability protection of Section 230 is inexcusable. If, all of a sudden, we want to care about the rights of private companies, why not allow all the small businesses that have been shut down by the government to open back up?
Do not fall for that nonsense. What Twitter is actually doing is censoring or banning any speech it does not like. Right now, that includes almost everything that comes out of a conservative’s mouth.
Twitter censored The New York Post’s story on Hunter Biden, saying it contained “hacked materials,” but not the New York Times story on President Trump’s private tax returns, which were leaked without his consent.
Sen. Mitch McConnell and his staff posted videos on Twitter of protestors outside of his home calling for violence. These videos were taken down by moderators. Instead, “Massacre Mitch” was allowed to trend on the site.
In August, President Trump’s younger brother died. You’ll never guess what Twitter allowed to trend.
It was #WrongTrump.
Just last week, the Students for Trump Twitter account was suspended until after Joe Biden’s inauguration. When this was challenged, Twitter unlocked the account, claiming it had been an “error.” It seems ironic that these errors only happen to one side of the political aisle.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei once posted a calling for Israel to be “removed and eradicated.” That post remains on Twitter to this day, yet the President of the United States has been permanently banned for supposedly “inciting violence.”
There are many more examples, but hopefully you get the point. Maybe you think this is all fine because people on the right side of the political spectrum are crazy and do not deserve a platform.
I’ll tell you right now: they start with the “far right,” and then there is going to be a new scapegoat. Just last week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that “…this is going to be much bigger than just one account. It is going to go on much longer than just this day.”
The line of acceptable speech will continue to move until we are all silenced. This should scare every single American. Some like to refer to President Trump as a dictator, but I have news for you: dictators do not get silenced. They do the silencing.
If big tech can do this to the President of the United States — whether it be George Bush, Donald Trump or Joe Biden — imagine what it can do to us.
An ACLU representative said it well in a statement about the ban: “…the unchecked power should concern everyone.” It is not just Twitter. It is Facebook, Google, Amazon and many more. The monopolies of free speech need to end.
This is not what we stand for in America and it is definitely not what our Constitution embodies. How much longer until you’re the one being silenced? Will it be too late?
Elizabeth Crochet is a 19-year-old political communication sophomore from New Orleans.