Losing Privilege Donald Trump Threatened Can No Longer Play Social Media

Donald Trump illustration (Charles Deluvio / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The social media scene was enlivened by riots at the Capitol Building, United States (US) Wednesday, January 6 yesterday. The unrest was triggered by US President Donald Trump's disappointment with the determination of the presidential election results.

It is known, for weeks Trump through his social media accounts has often uploaded false information about the US election. In fact, it is not uncommon for Trump to urge his supporters to go to Washington, to protest against the official approval of Congress for the victory of President-Elect Joe Biden.

Trump's Social Media Accounts Silenced

Shortly after the riots, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube took steps to block or limit Trump's posts immediately.

Microblogging network Twitter has suspended Trump's account for 12 hours after deleting three tweets deemed to have sparked a scene after initially banning him from being retweeted or replayed.

"This election fraud claim is disputed, and this Tweet cannot be replied to, retweeted, or liked because of the risk of violence," the claim tag added to Trump's post.

Alex Holmes, who is part of the Twitter Trust and Security Council, even asked his company to close Trump's account, "It's time Twitter deactivates Trump's account for law & order!" whipped Holmes.

Given that Trump has violated the Civil Integrity policy too many times. Finally Twitter made a threat and suspended Trump's account for the next 12 hours.

But if Trump posts another provocative tweet, Twitter will permanently block the account. Especially after Joe Biden's inauguration, Trump had no priority privileges as president.

Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.

- Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021

The same thing was done by Facebook, which assesses what Trump has done has sparked anger and chaos in the Capitol Hill Building, Washington DC. Facebook will also no longer allow Trump to post posts that spread provocative messages.

YouTube has also taken similar steps by removing pro-Trump streaming videos and Trump's own videos that are deemed inciting violence and because the information is deemed misleading about the election results.

Quoted from The Verge, the removal of Trump's video was carried out after YouTube implemented its latest policy update in December 2020. Where one of the points is prohibiting all types of content that accuse election fraud of having an impact on the results of the 2020 Presidential Election.

YouTube's decision to remove Trump's video came after the company received a lot of criticism for how it handled the misinformation that appeared on its platform.

Mark Zuckerberg's Anger

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg denounced the violence perpetrated by Trump's supporters and called it a dark moment in American history, as quoted by Business Insider.

"This is a dark moment in the history of our country and I know many of you are feeling frightened and anxious about what is happening in Washington DC," Zuckerberg told Facebook employees.

"I am personally saddened by this mass rioting, which is what it is. A peaceful transition of power is an important function of democracy and we need our political leaders to lead by example and put the country first," he continued.

Zuckerberg acknowledged the current situation, put US social media in the category of emergency. And Facebook must take the steps necessary for the safety of the crowd.

Zuckerberg hopes that after Congress approves Joe Biden's victory, all people must be able to ensure that the power transition process, which will take place in a span of 13 days, runs safely.