New Zealand Privacy Commissioner criticizes Facebook and Twitter’s decision to ban Trump

New Zealand Privacy Commissioner John Edwards has taken to social media to criticize social media platforms for banning US President Donald Trump.

Edwards’ issue is not so much about whether POTUS deserves its ban, but the fact that online justice is delivered on the whim of private companies, seeking good public relations rather than real change, rather than regulators.

“The bans on Twitter and Facebook are arbitrary, cynical, unprincipled and further proof that regulation of social media platforms is urgently required,” Edwards posted on Twitter Saturday night from his personal account.

“Much worse has been allowed, and it is still present on both platforms than the precipitating messages,” he added.

“We shouldn’t be relinquishing responsibility for the tough political decisions that are required and delegating responsibility for our community’s standards to conflicting companies.”

And while Facebook and Twitter were widely praised, including by this journalist, for finally acting on Trump after years of misleading and inflammatory posts, Edwards isn’t the only one raising warning flags.

Kate Ruane, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which has often been in conflict with the president, told the New York Times: “We understand the desire to permanently suspend it now, but it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield unlimited power to get people off platforms that have become indispensable to the speech of billions. “

He added: “President Trump may turn to his press team or Fox News to communicate with the public, but others, such as the many black, brown and LGBTQ activists who have been censored by social media companies, will not be able to afford that luxury. “.

Here, the New Zealand Civil Liberties Council declined to comment on the events at this time.

Twitter and Facebook temporarily blocked Trump after a mob, apparently incited by his words, invaded Capital Hill, and after a series of years-long posts containing incorrect, misleading or inflammatory statements.

Subsequently, Facebook extended its ban until the end of the US president’s term in 12 days. Twitter, after briefly allowing Trump to return, decided to issue a lifetime ban.

Other services have followed suit in the past 48 hours, including Facebook-owned Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Reddit, while the popular e-commerce platform Shopify removed Trump’s official campaign store.

Trump has reportedly mused on a switch to Parler, a relatively small and clunky platform, but with a permissive approach to moderating content.

Parler, a friend of the alt-right, would benefit enormously if a portion of Trump’s 80 million Twitter and 20 million Facebook fans met.

However, Google has just removed Parler from its app store for failing to adequately control violent content, and Apple has warned the platform that it could follow suit if it doesn’t toughen up.

In any case, any change from Trump to Parler would coincide with his departure from the White House, robbing his publications of some of their power.

Meanwhile, an irony of the situation will not be lost on Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg or Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

In his final days in office, Trump, aggrieved that his posts were slapped with warning labels, tried to add a clause to a defense bill that would have seen social media platforms lose a safe harbor protection of long standing and be responsible for any infraction. content on their platforms.

The president lost that battle, possibly cutting off his nose to mess with his face. If it had won, and Facebook, Twitter and others had become directly responsible for the content they carry, it would have been much easier for them to argue that the ban on their accounts was justified.

What is not in doubt: whatever its merits, the social media ban will hurt.

“Trump’s reliance on Twitter” supersedes even his basic need for oxygen to breathe, “said former attorney for President Michael Cohen.

And Trump was furious when he was banned, according to reports.

In the end, he needed Twitter more than Twitter needed him.