As Trump searches for a new social network after his Twitter ban, a shift from mainstream platforms would mark a retreat to insular conservative communities

Twitter's decision to ban President Trump mere days before the end of his term sparked a fierce political backlash among …

Washington Post 2021-01-10

Context & Ripple Effects

Trump’s search follows Twitter’s ban and the political backlash around it. The immediate choice is between the reach of a centrally run platform and a move into smaller, politically aligned communities—a contrast already identified in coverage of how large platforms struggle to sustain healthy communities.

The subsequent arc shows the search becoming an owned-platform strategy through Trump Media & Technology Group and Truth Social. But later analysis also found Trump’s social-media engagement declined after the bans, underscoring the cost of losing distribution on mainstream networks.

First-order effects

Trump loses Twitter as a direct broadcast channel and must redirect his remaining time and political messaging toward alternative networks.
Conservative-oriented social platforms gain a high-profile prospective user, while Twitter absorbs the immediate political backlash from enforcing its ban.

Second-order effects

Alternative platforms must turn attention around Trump into durable user adoption; later coverage of Truth Social’s challenge attracting users away from mainstream apps frames the central commercial constraint.
Twitter’s decision makes platform access itself a political issue, giving Trump and allied services a clearer case for positioning against Big Tech.

Third-order effects

If prominent political figures build or migrate to aligned networks, social discourse becomes more segmented: mainstream platforms retain broad reach while partisan services compete for committed communities.
The episode points toward political influence being shaped not only by an account’s audience but by the distribution rules and moderation decisions of a small number of large platforms.

The trend: Platform moderation is turning access to mainstream social distribution into a catalyst for politically aligned alternative networks.

Discussion

@karateskool @karateskool on x
Lmaooooo this the wildest ban in history. His phone just a brick https://twitter.com/...
@twittersafety @twittersafety on x
After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence. https://blog.twitter.com/...
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
Dear journalists, venture capitalists, TikTok teens and other ThinkFluencers: before hot-taking on how to regulate online speech, please consider reading some of the foundational work in this area. Start with @Klonick's groundbreaking overview: https://papers.ssrn.com/...
@donaldjtrumpjr Donald Trump Jr on x
We are living Orwell's 1984. Free-speech no longer exists in America. It died with big tech and what's left is only there for a chosen few. This is absolute insanity! https://twitter.com/...
@anneapplebaum Anne Applebaum on x
Twitter banning Trump is a good moment to start asking why we have allowed social media companies to become so powerful and unaccountable. How should they be regulated? Should they be more transparent? Should there be a public service alternative? Things to think about in 2021...
@microsoft @microsoft on x
It's now safe to turn off your computer.
@twittersafety @twittersafety on x
In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action. https://help.twitter.com/...
@yashar @yashar on x
The Trump campaign digital director Gary Coby just had his account suspended by Twitter after he changed his Twitter name to “Donald Trump” and tweeted from his account. https://twitter.com/...
@davidsacks David Sacks on x
Free speech has never meant “anything goes”. Supreme Court has defined 9 major exceptions including incitement, fighting words, defamation, and fraud. Big Tech could have operated within that framework. Instead they've usurped the power to define allowed speech. Real issue.
@navalny Alexey Navalny on x
1. I think that the ban of Donald Trump on Twitter is an unacceptable act of censorship (THREAD)
@sarahnemerson Sarah Emerson on x
Of course Jack Dorsey is on an island right now https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
Trump made the decision much easier for Twitter and FB. Without that riot we'd be arguing about whether they should take him down for another 5 years
@sachabaroncohen Sacha Baron Cohen on x
This is the most important moment in the history of social media. The world's largest platforms have banned the world's biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate. To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this—the entire world thanks you! http…
@mattnavarra Matt Navarra on x
I bought a t shirt https://twitter.com/...
@mtracey Michael Tracey on x
Purging the sitting President from his primary communications platform is absolute authoritarian lunacy
@lindseygrahamsc Lindsey Graham on x
Twitter may ban me for this but I willingly accept that fate: Your decision to permanently ban President Trump is a serious mistake. The Ayatollah can tweet, but Trump can't. Says a lot about the people who run Twitter.
@snitchery Eleanor on x
LMAOOO spotify is taking me out 💀 https://twitter.com/...
@gaberivera Gabe Rivera on x
If you're a certain kind of libertarian on Twitter, you believe Twitter made a terrible decision, but you also must not tell Twitter, a private company, what it can or can't do, so your main recourse is to send out incredibly emo tweets.
@film_girl @film_girl on x
Seriously @jack, why has your buddy @ali not been kicked off the platform yet? He used your platform (Periscope) to spread propaganda, hate, and organize the January 6th riots and he's still here? It looks like he's temporarily unable to tweet but why keep him at all?
@mcfaul Michael McFaul on x
Great reading list on de-platforming from @stamos. https://twitter.com/...
@christopherjm Christopher Miller on x
Russian oppo leader/novichok victim Navalny's thoughts on Twitter's Trump ban: “This precedent will be exploited by the enemies of freedom of speech around the world. In Russia as well. Every time when they need to silence someone, they will say: ‘this is just common practice.’” …
@faination Joe Faina on x
Donald tried to get on Melania's Twitter but she told him the password was Barron's middle name plus his birthday.
@kasparov63 Garry Kasparov on x
I wrote about the need for democratic processes to catch up with social media instead of being hijacked by it in The Economist in October. https://www.economist.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@marklittlenews Mark Little on x
A helpful framing. Focus needs to move from knee-jerk and simplistic reaction to carefully calibrated regulation and oversight. But also investment in the purpose-driven technology and public infrastructure which can revive the original democratic promise of the internet. https:/…
@davidclinchnews David Clinch on x
In order to make real progress in this area, the @JoeBiden Administration needs to appoint a cabinet level leader to guide the process and a national, bi-partisan, commission to provide recommendations for new legislation and adjustments to existing legislation. I fear they won't…
@levie Aaron Levie on x
@DavidSacks Under that definition, which is clearly a far better bar than random acts of shutting down accounts, Trump then should have been banned years ago right?
@hillaryclinton Hillary Clinton on x
✔️ https://twitter.com/...
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
When you are done with the real experts, you can fall asleep to this talk I gave on balancing all of the difficulty equities here: https://www.youtube.com/...
@bobmurphyecon Robert P. Murphy on x
For real, one of the standard objections to a world of Rothbardian anarcho-capitalism is, “What if there were an individual so unpopular that no business wanted to serve him? We need a State to protect such people!” https://www.axios.com/...
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
The irony being (as I just pointed out on BBC News) that he didn't encourage the riot on Twitter - he did it in a speech. But the tweets had been warming the fire for months. https://twitter.com/...
@scottros Scott Rosenberg on x
@alexstamos @Klonick Excellent points in this thread. Also recommend Gillespie's “Custodians of the Internet.” Content moderation has a long history of confusion and misunderstanding. These arguments were hot when I joined the Well in 1990.
@qhardy Quentin Hardy on x
Twitter is the biggest deal, in terms of his dreamed-of future media empire. It's the thing that hurts him worst, because it hurts him directly. https://twitter.com/...
@barronjohn1946 John Barron on x
Hello I am brand new to Twitter, what are you guys up to
@kareemrifai Kareem Rifai on x
Nothing is more infuriating than seeing people who apologize for the authoritarian dictator that killed my family in Syria calling a private company banning the president from Twitter, “authoritarianism.” https://twitter.com/...
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
Exactly right. Why do we need to spend years cajoling, begging and lobbying a handful of unelected and unqualified CEOs to do basic things like protect democracy, personal safety and an uncontrolled disinformation ecosystem. You can't ask the people profiting to be responsible. h…
@mitalisaran Mitali Saran on x
Have you people taken a look at Indian Twitter?? Your response is ‘potential’ at best. https://twitter.com/...
@jasonmillerindc Jason Miller on x
Disgusting. Big Tech wants to cancel all 75M @realDonaldTrump supporters. If you don't think they're coming for you next, you're wrong. “Twitter bans President Trump” https://www.axios.com/...
@amlwhere Ann Marie Lipinski on x
In case you didn't read to the end of the ⁦@Twitter⁩ announcement https://twitter.com/...
@zeynep Zeynep Tufekci on x
Besides the obvious: Thinking how friends in Sri Lanka had told me how they begged Twitter & Facebook to act on accounts instigating ethnic cleansing but often couldn't even get any response and what a coincidence everyone acts one day after Democrats get a legislative trifecta.
@noupside Renee DiResta on x
So many folks spent the last day asking “What if Twitter bans Trump?” My prediction was that the obvious happens - on social, he creates a Parler account (I personally think the frog platform is prob still a bridge too far), but that he also just leverages OANN/Newsmax.
@selectedwisdom Clint Watts on x
As you watch Twitter ban Trump, Facebook turning on Trump, and Apple warning Parler for not moderating, that is not because of the Capitol insurrection as much as 2 Senators winning the runoff in GA. #ElectionsMatter
@jpbrammer @jpbrammer on x
in terms of public safety this is good and in terms of shitposts the library of Alexandria has been torched
@ditzkoff Dave Itzkoff on x
DID ANYONE SAVE THE ROB PATTINSON/KRISTEN STEWART TWEETS
@bobbybigwheel Aaron on x
The Krassensteins finally did it, they won
@thedweck Jess Dweck on x
What you're doing to me is Orwellian and I will use the government to make you stop
@gabedelahaye Gabe Delahaye on x
BREAKING: Donald Trump has been suspended from Waze.
@chrislhayes Chris Hayes on x
I can guarantee you no private Chinese firm would be able to kick Xi off their platform! https://twitter.com/...
@glcarlstrom Gregg Carlstrom on x
You can be a near-absolutist on free speech but recognize that there is a compelling case (with legal precedent) for booting Trump off this platform, and you can be deeply uncomfortable with the power of tech companies but recognize that this isn't a First Amendment question
@ashleyfeinberg Ashley Feinberg on x
god i would pay so much money for a video of him the second he found out
@ashleyfeinberg Ashley Feinberg on x
deeply concerned over this gross act of deplatforming, if only the president had some sort of room, perhaps in the very same building in which he sleeps, where representatives from every major media outlet existed solely to broadcast his words to the public—ah but alas
@ugarles @ugarles on x
first they came for the fascists and, well, I was immediately concerned https://twitter.com/...
@sacca @sacca on x
Let's be clear, the employees made this happen. Stock markets don't care and pundits don't move the needle. The biggest risk facing tech giants is losing talent. Their armchair-libertarian faux-intellectualism is all well and good until engineers don't want to work there anymore.…
@dave_brown24 Dave Brown on x
This is the first time a sitting president has been banned from Twitter going back to 1812
@troyhunt Troy Hunt on x
So many “whoas”: Trump tweets from POTUS handle account, says looking ‘at the possibilities of building out our own platform’ - “The tweets were removed from the service almost immediately” https://www.cnbc.com/...
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
A Twitter employee told NBC News that “leadership took a beating” at a meeting with employees this morning, who pleaded with executives to delete Trump's account. “A lot of us are so happy, and so proud to work for a company that did the right thing.” https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@jamesrbuk James Ball on x
I'd say “the absolute bare minimum” would be a fairer description than “the right thing” here, but credit to those who pressured their bosses all the same. https://twitter.com/...
@repwilson Rep Frederica Wilson on x
Trump used Twitter as a weapon. Now he has been disarmed! https://twitter.com/...
@markellislive Mark Ellis on x
Looking forward to tons of tweets from new user @DefinitelyNotDonnyT https://twitter.com/...
@elienyc Elie Mystal on x
Trump is going through the Twitter feeds if his staff like Voldemort asking his Death Eaters for their wands. https://twitter.com/...
@steve_vladeck Steve Vladeck on x
Does he know that he can walk into the press room and start talking into a camera? https://twitter.com/...
@lsanger Larry Sanger on x
This is the end of Twitter. It was OK while it lasted. You'll always be able to find me on https://larrysanger.org/, folks. https://twitter.com/...
@joyannreid @joyannreid on x
You realize you're freely tweeting this, on Twitter, right?? https://twitter.com/...
@kellymakena Makena Kelly on x
NEW: It appears as though Trump tweeted from the @POTUS account. These tweets have now since been deleted/removed. Waiting to hear from Twitter: https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@jasonfebery Jason Febery on x
Wishing him as much luck as he had with Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump Airlines, Trump Casinos, and Trump University. https://twitter.com/...
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
His YouTube page, full of election disinformation, is still up and running. https://twitter.com/...
@sen_joemanchin Senator Joe Manchin on x
Thank you @twitter for taking this action. We must come together as a country to heal and find a common path forward. https://twitter.com/...
@alexgaskarth Alex Gaskarth on x
This is not how the 1st amendment works and you should know this your papa was the presid— wait he's been banned from that too? Oh. Carry on. https://twitter.com/...
@jonathanvswan Jonathan Swan on x
In several of our conversations over the past few years, Trump has said he considers social media — Twitter & FB in particular — to be his most powerful weapon. This will anger him more than perhaps anything that has happened during his presidency. https://www.axios.com/...
@levie Aaron Levie on x
“Government is inefficient we should let the private markets compete instead.” “I don't like it when private companies decide to do the things they want.”
@kellymakena Makena Kelly on x
NEW: Twitter tells me that if Trump tried to circumvent this ban by using @POTUS, the platform would remove these new postings. If Trump made a new account, that account would face a permanent suspension “at first detection,” according to Twitter's rules. https://www.theverge.com…
@antoniogm @antoniogm on x
Facebook is the House of public opinion. Twitter is the Senate.
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
Junior doesn't know the difference between a public square & a private company that decided to finally refuse service to his grifter crew after they trashed the place, much like the mob his dad & he egged on to attack the Capitol. Well, to be fair, the rioters were better behaved…
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
It's just fuckin unreal how bad his timing is on this stuff. From going on a silent meditation retreat in a country where social media abetted a genocide to vacationing during a pandemic AND an attempted coup encouraged on his platform, you just really have to applaud the guy. ht…
@twittersafety @twittersafety on x
However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules and cannot use Twitter to incite violence. We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement.
@b_fung Brian Fung on x
Live footage of Twitter vs. Trump https://twitter.com/...
@clueheywood Clue Heywood on x
(Mark Zuckerberg hands Jack Dorsey one dollar)
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
Comment from Twitter spokesman: “As we've said, using another account to try to evade a suspension is against our rules. We've permanently suspended the @TeamTrump account.”
@scalzi John Scalzi on x
It is the essence of the free market for private entities to dictate without interference from an overbearing government how their services are to be used and by whom and if you don't like it you can do back to whatever socialist commie land you came from https://twitter.com/...
@jonahdispatch Jonah Goldberg on x
Again. I'm not sure Twitter made the right call. But arguments this dumb are going to push me into thinking it was essential. https://twitter.com/...
@cjane87 Jane Coaston on x
An ironic and incorrect sentiment given that Trump is the authority and Twitter is the private company that does not have the monopoly of state violence https://twitter.com/...
@mattblaze Matt Blaze on x
Now that Twitter has booted Trump, the next 24 hours will be devoted exclusively to people who don't understand the First Amendment explaining the First Amendment to people who do. And election Twitter gets a well-needed day off.
@daphnehk Daphne Keller on x
Why are reporters asking me about speech/reach and the 1st Am? Platforms don't owe anyone opportunity for speech OR reach. The govt trips 1st Am problems by interfering w either one. @noUpside is right to point to those as *platform* options. But it's not a legal distinction.
@teamtrump @teamtrump on x
REPEAL SECTION 230 - ENOUGH!
@austen Austen Allred on x
Imagine what it's gonna be like next time Jack and Zuck are called before Congress
@sachabaroncohen Sacha Baron Cohen on x
Twitter finally banned Trump! We did it! https://twitter.com/...
@k8em0 Katie Moussouris on x
Agreed. These social media platforms experimented on brown people with policies & tech designed to maximize ad profit driven by divisions & incitement of violence. They only changed stance when their headquartered country gained enough legislative leverage to pose a legal threat.…
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
the platforms' default position on Trump has been to take very little action against the President for 3.99 years....then all move swiftly in concert with the ban-hammer at the eleventh hour https://twitter.com/...
@actually_tina Actually_its_now_sad_winter_time_ Tina on x
I am honestly not happy that twitter and Facebook can just decide to delete a politicians account because they want to. Even with justified cause, that's technically a historical record and its fucking dumb to remove anything without at least an archive. This is concerning tbh
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
um, Trump apparently began tweeting from the official presidential account, @POTUS, but it appears Twitter cut him off halfway through what he was saying. here's what i got https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Going to be interesting when Trump and his supporters argue Twitter is too powerful given this characterization in 2016. https://twitter.com/...
@m_feeney Matthew Feeney on x
- Twitter is nothing like a “public forum.” Not even close. Look up Marsh v. Alabama. - Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. are no “monopolies.” They are competitors. - Trump and his allies have many services to choose from when it comes to communicating on the Internet
@m_feeney Matthew Feeney on x
A few points to keep in mind re: tonight's Trump Twitter news. - The First Amendment, not #Section230, allows Twitter and other interactive computer services to moderate and remove content. - There is no distinction between “platforms” and “publishers” under 230
@staceyplaskett Rep. Stacey Plaskett on x
Just a thought but, maybe a person deemed not responsible enough to use Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram might not be stable enough to hold the office of President. #25th
@twittersafety @twittersafety on x
Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open. https://blog.twitter.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
As a response to Trump being banned, this is backward. If you strip Sec 230, social media platforms will ban MORE people, because the platforms could be sued for what's posted on them. Trump could sue for ban, but Twitter's defense wouldn't be 230. It would be owning Twitter. htt…
@davidbegnaud David Begnaud on x
Private companies set their own terms of service and every user agrees to the terms service. https://twitter.com/...
@briantylercohen Brian Tyler Cohen on x
Looks like someone is TRIGGERED. https://twitter.com/...
@thedweck Jess Dweck on x
Congrats to Trump on his first ever consequence
@bobbybigwheel Aaron on x
Peter Thiel is on the Facebook board and Republican henchman Joel Kaplan has been forcing the platform to promote conservative news and make sure right wingers can spread lies and hatred for almost a decade. This is actually worse than the scenario Conor outlines below. https://t…
@clarajeffery Clara Jeffery on x
Peter Thiel is *literally* on the board of Facebook https://twitter.com/...
@conor64 Conor Friedersdorf on x
A thought exercise for *this is an easy question* folks on the left: if Peter Thiel were CEO of Twitter or Facebook, would you still think *removing a politician who acts very badly has no at least concerning implications beyond the case in question*? Of course not.
@levie Aaron Levie on x
Trump off Twitter will directly add at least 2% to GDP.
@thestalwart Joe Weisenthal on x
Everyone dropping down a notch on the Substack leaderboard
@minal_hasan Minal Hasan on x
Hate to say it, but Twitter's suspension of Trump's account doesn't mean the company “finally cares.” Rather, the company likely thinks it may be in potentially serious legal trouble for its role in this week's events. https://twitter.com/...
@pixelguff @pixelguff on x
HOW DO I SIGN UP TO MASTODON? https://twitter.com/...
@scottmonty Scott Monty on x
An extraordinary thing to have to admit about a president of the United States. But it was past time. Bravo. https://twitter.com/...
@profgalloway Scott Galloway on x
Credit where credit is due: @jack let hate speech and misinformation reign for 1439, of 1460, days.
@iamwandasykes Wanda Sykes on x
FINALLY! @jack told Trump to STFU! 🙌🏾 Can we put them on a family plan? Don Jr, Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, Jared, you too Melania...Shut all of those scoundrels down!
@mjs_dc Mark Joseph Stern on x
The account used to ban transgender Americans from the armed forces is gone forever and I'm taking a fuck ton of satisfaction in that right now.
@parkermolloy Parker Molloy on x
For years people have asked what it would take for Twitter to actually enforce its own rules when it comes to Trump's account. The answer turned out to be inciting a terrorist attack on the US Capitol. https://twitter.com/...
@joshconstine Josh Constine -SignalFire on x
So this confirms it. Republicans working the refs, falsely alleging “anti-conservative bias” is what stopped Twitter & Facebook from policing lies. No senate control = no fear of regulatory backlash = bans
@eliothiggins Eliot Higgins on x
Gab and Parler now get to fight to the death over who gets to host Trump.
@shaneharris Shane Harris on x
I mean, honestly, he might consider this worse than impeachment.
@pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings on x
The President is one of the most powerful people in the world, he has a briefing room and most networks will carry anything he says at the drop of a hat. This isn't “censoring the president”. It's twitter saying “not on my platform”.
@jennifer Jen Rubio on x
Twitter blocking Trump now is like all of his enablers resigning days before their job ends
@gravelinstitute Gravel Institute on x
You can believe both that tech companies have far too much power and that Trump getting banned is a very good thing.
@waltmossberg Walt Mossberg on x
Twitter's permanent ban on Trump, and Facebook's “indefinite” ban on him, are years too late. Millions have been fed lies and conspiracy theories and given tacit permission to commit acts of hate and violence because the two services dithered so long. They are complicit.
@pierce David Pierce on x
Twitter's specific reason for banning Trump seems like kind of a stretch. Seems like the next time he tweeted about politics, he was gone — and now here we are https://www.protocol.com/...
@pierce David Pierce on x
I think it's the right thing to do, and Twitter should have done it a long time ago. It just looks like Twitter decided to ban him permanently on Wednesday, and just needed to buy a couple of days to make a plan
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
A landmark week in social media's power — to provoke violence. And social media company's power — to deplatform the President of the United States.
@shannonpareil Shannon Bond on x
this is the kind of editorial judgement Dorsey & Zuckerberg resisted making (even as they made all kinds of other editorial judgement) for years. they may not want to frame it that way but it's hard to read it any other way.
@fboversight @fboversight on x
The ball is in your court, Zuckerberg.
@hunterwalk @hunterwalk on x
*we* deplatformed Trump on Nov 4th glad others are catching up....
@gcluley Graham Cluley on x
Hear that noise? That's the sound of thousands of journalists desperately scrabbling to make Parler accounts to see what Donald Trump says next...
@alexrkonrad Alex Konrad on x
all eyes now turn expectantly to LinkedIn.
@asharangappa_ Asha Rangappa on x
Jokes aside, this article explains why and to what extent Trump and Trump-related content is banned on the sites (looks like Pinterest is currently banning some hashtags, sadly Trump never had an actual account) https://www.axios.com/...
@aynrandpaulryan Holly Figueroa O'Reilly on x
Sites that have limited and/or banned Trump so far: Facebook Twitter Instagram TikTok Reddit Twitch Google Youtube Snapchat Apple Discord uh...:checks notes: Shopify and...Pinterest? https://www.axios.com/...
@axios @axios on x
Platforms are rapidly removing Donald Trump's account or accounts affiliated with pro-Trump violence and conspiracies. Here is a running list: https://www.axios.com/...
@albertmacgloan Albert MacGloan on x
I don't know why but I can't stop laughing at Pinterest banning him too AND Shopify! 🤣 https://www.axios.com/...
@sarafischer Sara Fischer on x
All the platforms that have banned or restricted Trump so far ... a running list from me and @ashleyrgold https://www.axios.com/...
@sameerpatel Sameer Patel on x
The hyper linked web was never designed to absorb the shock from a meaningful rollback. https://twitter.com/...
@swiftonsecurity @swiftonsecurity on x
Twitter needs to restore the Trump account for historical preservation then block any logins to it. Memory holing this stuff is not appropriate. https://twitter.com/...
@shapshak Toby Shapshak on x
Trump's muzzling provides a clarifying lesson in where power resides in our digital society — not just in the precedent of law or the checks and balances of govt, but in the ability to deny access to the platforms that shape our public discourse. @NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/…
@jonchevreau Jonathan Chevreau on x
The implications of Trump losing his MAGAphone via @NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/...
@mattl_jg Matthew LeBlanc on x
“No serious thinker believes that Twitter and Facebook, as private companies, are obligated to give any user a platform, just as no one doubts that a restaurant owner can boot an unruly diner for causing a scene.” https://twitter.com/...
@puiwingtam Pui-Wing Tam on x
“Mr. Dorsey and Mr. Zuckerberg's names have never appeared on a ballot. But they have a kind of authority that no elected official on earth can claim.” @kevinroose https://www.nytimes.com/...
@terronk Lee Edwards on x
Pay attention to this. They asked for something, got what they wanted, and then wasted no time in using it as an example of why the people who gave in to them have too much power. Who actually has the power here? https://www.nytimes.com/...
@yashar Yashar Ali on x
“In the end, two billionaires from California did what legions of politicians, prosecutors and power brokers had tried and failed to do for years: They pulled the plug on President Trump.” @kevinroose reports https://www.nytimes.com/...
@benjedwards Benj Edwards on x
A thoughtful piece worth reading https://twitter.com/...
@jeff_poor Jeff Poor on x
This sounds like a sustainable system... https://twitter.com/...
@allisonlcarter Allison Carter on x
This does a great job of laying out the real questions and concerns around this ban that aren't misrepresenting the First Amendment. https://twitter.com/...
@kevinroose Kevin Roose on x
Wrote about the deplatforming of an American president, arguably the biggest moment in the history of social media, and a clarifying lesson about who's really in charge. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
.⁦@kevinroose⁩ : It's doubtful that Trump will ever have what he had in Facebook and Twitter — a frictionless soapbox, where he could joust w/ his enemies as well as bask in the adoration of his fans, & a direct line to every newsroom in the country. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@doctorow @doctorow on x
As Parler disappears from the Android and Ios app stores and faces being kicked off of Amazon's (and other) clouds, people who worry about monopolized corporate control over speech are divided over What It Means. 1/ https://twitter.com/...
@kashhill Kashmir Hill on x
After the attack on the Capitol, facial recognition app Clearview AI saw a spike in use. Detectives are using the app to help identify rioters: https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@leojtravis10 Joe Ortiz on x
Please take the time to read this from @mmasnick since its the best analysis on why Twitter did what they had to do. Plus this last part is the kicker to this: https://www.techdirt.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@sanjiva Sanjiva Weerawarana on x
Two really good reads on the issue of banning Trump from social media: By @stratechery: https://stratechery.com/... By @mmasnick: https://www.techdirt.com/...
@gerritd Gerrit De Vynck on x
Mozilla calling for permanent changes to algorithms on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter to make authoritative news sources more prominent https://blog.mozilla.org/...
@tpostmillennial @tpostmillennial on x
Mitchell Baker, Mozilla's CEO, wrote on Friday on the company's official blog that they plan to go beyond deplatforming in combating what they consider “harmful speech”. https://thepostmillennial.com/ ...
@joshua__frank Joshua Frank on x
The Electronic Freedom Foundation's short note on Trump's Twitter ban. Better than anything you'll read from most journalists who know little about digital rights or free speech law. https://www.eff.org/...
@evan_greer Evan Greer on x
Anyone cheering this on who doesn't think normalizing police use of Clearview style facial recognition will primarily harm Black and brown people has their head up their ass https://twitter.com/...
@wbm312 Whitney Merrill on x
When it's time, let's have a more nuanced discussion on content moderation and platform censorship. Just because it's not a 1A or 230 issue doesn't mean we shouldn't worry about how platforms choose to regulate content. In the mean time, this is a good thread worth reading. https…
@techreview @techreview on x
There's simply no reason to trust Mark Zuckerberg and other tech leaders to get these big decisions about free speech right. Let users decide instead. https://www.technologyreview.com/ ...
@aamer_rahman Aamer Rahman on x
“We profited for years from extremists using our tech to grow a massive, violent, right-wing movement that can no longer be contained - but don't worry, we're putting the bad man in Facebook jail for two weeks.” https://twitter.com/...
@basiasosnowska @basiasosnowska on x
@navalny No, you are wrong. He has full access to media, and has a press secretary. https://twitter.com/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
@DavidSacks Of course they're making it up as they go — every case is different. https://www.techdirt.com/... And inciting an attack on your own government that leaves five people dead is a far graver assault on free speech than anything you're complaining about
@raminskibba Ramin Skibba on x
I think this is a good question by @jilliancyork: “Social media companies aren't very good at moderating speech. So why do we ask them to?” https://www.technologyreview.com/ ...
@_rappy @_rappy on x
From [Facebook]'s ban on breasts to its tendency to suspend users for speaking back against hate speech, or its ... failure to remove calls for violence in Myanmar ... and elsewhere, there's ... no reason to trust Zuckerberg and other tech leaders to get these big decisions right…
@karmel80 @karmel80 on x
“Republicans criticized it as a violation of Trump's free speech. It wasn't. Just as Trump has the First Amendment right to spew deranged nonsense, so too do tech companies have the First Amendment right to remove that content. ” https://www.technologyreview.com/ ...
@amynordrum Amy Nordrum on x
“Who should have the right to decide what we can and can't say? What does it mean when a corporation can censor a government official?” @jilliancyork covers social media bans, Section 230, and more in this new op-ed for @techreview https://www.technologyreview.com/ ...
@nikicheong Dr. Niki Cheong on x
A valuable quick read by the brilliant @jilliancyork on free speech, social media shutdowns and well, consistency ... https://twitter.com/...
@kyleorl Kyle Orland on x
Excellent post. For those of us that grew up dealing with moderation issues on small web forums, it's really weird seeing those issues attempting to be applied to the scale and import of national debate. https://twitter.com/...
@dangillmor Dan Gillmor on x
Best thing I've seen on this. https://twitter.com/...
@mozilla @mozilla on x
This week we saw the culmination of a four-year disinformation campaign orchestrated by the President. We have to acknowledge how the internet was misused to get here. And we have to change it. https://blog.mozilla.org/...
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
Terrific post. Read it. https://twitter.com/...
@gem_ray Cemre Gngr on x
“We took a room full of content moderation experts and asked them to make content moderation decisions on eight cases [...] And we couldn't get these experts to agree on anything.” https://twitter.com/...
@tallama Seth A. Roby on x
This is good. Banning Trump was never the easy call, but this week we crossed some threshold where the severity, the finality, and the reciprocity all lined up. https://twitter.com/...
@notnickfish Nick Fish on x
For my money, this is probably the best write up on the Trump/Twitter/censorship discourse. Content moderation is not an easy problem. Naturally the edge cases will always present... issues. But it's hard to disagree with this at all. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/.…
@digiphile Alex Howard on x
As @mmasnick writes, Trump has not been silenced: https://www.techdirt.com/... At any moment of any day, he can tell @PressSec to alert news outlets, walk out of the Oval Office, & stream it on the @WhiteHouse website. He's been denied this platform because he broke Twitter's @po…
@mariannedh Marianne Daz Hernndez on x
I would very much like to be against deplatforming awful people, since I'm first and foremost a free speech activist, but I think it's much more complex than that. Sadly, the conversations that we need to be having can't be had while the house is on fire.
@clairlemon Claire Lehmann on x
Many people already see a number of large legacy media orgs as de facto mouthpieces for a particular political faction inside the US. And the infrastructure of the internet has mostly appeared relatively neutral. Until today. https://twitter.com/...
@iainthomson Iain Thomson on x
“The real complaint shouldn't be about Twitter or Facebook acting too late, but about Congress failing to do their job and remove the mad man from power.” Excellent piece by @mmasnick on today's ban whack-a-mole. https://www.techdirt.com/... via @Techdirt
@nfergus Niall Ferguson on x
I have read intelligent defenses of the cancellation of Trump by @mmasnick https://www.techdirt.com/... and @benthompson: https://stratechery.com/...
@aditis90 Aditi Shrivastava on x
Trump is, perhaps, the perfect example of why demanding clear rules on social media and how they moderate is stupid, writes @mmasnick 👇 https://twitter.com/...
@petersuderman Suderman on x
I think this somewhat overstates the difficult of setting clear rules that apply in most ordinary cases. But this is good. Trump's case was inevitably going to be sui generis, and no one size fits all rulebook could have managed it without some contortions. https://twitter.com/..…
@alex_gibson Alex Gibson on x
“We need solutions that don't start after untold damage has been done. Changing these dangerous dynamics requires more than just the temporary silencing or permanent removal of bad actors from social media platforms.” https://blog.mozilla.org/...
@jilliancyork Jillian C. York on x
Here's @EFF's statement on social media platforms' decisions to remove Trump's accounts. A reminder that this is NOT unprecedented; it's happened abroad before. https://www.eff.org/...
@eff @eff on x
EFF's statement on social media platforms' recent blocking of the president's accounts: https://www.eff.org/...
@benthompson Ben Thompson on x
I completely agree with everything Mike wrote here. https://twitter.com/...
@lmatsakis Louise Matsakis on x
I think @mmasnick is right: Asking any of these platforms to abide by consistent rules for every case is never, ever going to work. Twitter banned Trump not because he crossed a predetermined line — it was because the context changed https://www.techdirt.com/... https://twitter.c…
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
Pretty astounding to watch the deplatforming of a sitting U.S. president in real time https://twitter.com/...
@dellcam Dell Cameron on x
This is either a lie or an admission that analysts have been purposely steered away from monitoring right-wing threats. NBC reported on a wave of violent threats linked to the event in advance as did reporters elsewhere. The posts were public. https://twitter.com/...
@awgoraya Ahmad Waqass Goraya on x
@slpng_giants @Pinterest Add discord to list https://www.theverge.com/...
@kylekashuv Kyle Kashuv on x
Big Tech is going to fully ban Trump on Jan 20th. Regardless of your political leanings this should frighten you to your core. https://twitter.com/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
In STILL OTHER news, @Discord says it has banned server The Donald, which was connected to TheDonald dot Win and the Donald subreddit. Made decision “due to its overt connection to an online forum used to incite violence and plan an armed insurrection,” spox says.
@gadgetlab @gadgetlab on x
Plus: Dorsey in the Trump administration's early days, how to define privacy, and chaos in the Capitol. https://www.wired.com/...
@dumbassgenius Rick G. Rosner on x
Trump is banned from Reddit, now only has MySpace, AOL Instant Messenger, and AskJeeves. https://twitter.com/...
@deandettloff Dean Dettloff on x
This and the Twitter bans scratch an itch, but they're symbolic gestures, not solutions. There are hundreds of subreddits worse than this, just like there are so many active twitter accounts that had an even more substantial impact in organizing what happened in the Capitol. http…
@sarafischer Sara Fischer on x
#BREAKING: @reddit has banned subreddit r/Donaldtrump 1. Not official Trump subreddit 2. Ban was result of repeated violations by community since Wed for glorifying and inciting violence 3. Community moderators were given previous warnings - Story to come on @axios
@smerconish Michael Smerconish on x
Thank you to the great @StevenLevy for joining me today @SXMPOTUS @SIRIUSXM with: A @realDonaldTrump Ban Is Easy. Fixing @Facebook and @Twitter Will Be Hard https://www.wired.com/...
@royradhika7 Radhika Roy on x
This is just a case of “too little, too late”. But, keeping that aside, it's insane how much power the BigTech wields over the way our society functions - that simply blocking an account could have prevented this landslide of democracy. https://twitter.com/...
@sarahmarb Sarah Marbaniang on x
Wud Facebook & other social media giants done the same if Trump was not an outgoing President🤦🏻‍ ♀️@Facebook @Twitter shameless pandering to fascist powers the world over has resulted in the massive polarisation we see in our society today-Convenient for them to suddenly grow a s…
@slasher Rod Breslau on x
Discord says they have been monitoring the TheDonald community since October. a Discord spokesperson has provided the following statement in full https://twitter.com/...
@caitlin__kelly Caitlin Kelly on x
.@EmmaGreyEllis looked at the Trump supporters and far-right extremist coalitions converging on the Capitol, and spoke to researchers who—like a number of smart people!—aren't surprised at the violence. 2/ https://www.wired.com/...
@carljackmiller Carl Miller on x
Here goes Reddit too. You really can't overstate how important r/TheDonald has been to the Trump internet - it is a cultural and political heart of the movement https://twitter.com/...
@alibreland Ali Breland on x
from discord: “While there is no evidence of the server being used to organize the Jan 6 riots, Discord decided to ban the entire server today due to its overt connection to an online forum used to incite violence and plan an armed insurrection in the United States”
@cestegman Casey Stegman on x
All of this is the tech version of the end of a Scorsese mob movie https://twitter.com/...
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Looks like the internet's finally saying “no” to the crazy they allowed to fester, and that we saw on full display Wednesday. https://twitter.com/...
@mikebutcher Mike Butcher on x
The dominos are falling. Even Discord is banning a pro-Trump server. https://twitter.com/...
@dreamcastguy @dreamcastguy on x
Look, even if you hate politics it is VERY interesting to see one of the most powerful people in the world being deleted off the entire internet lol. The end of Trump! https://twitter.com/...
@arneduncan Arne Duncan on x
You think he just gave that teleprompter speech because he believed anything he was saying? Of course not. Trump will always look out for only one person- himself. And, all the sheep who followed him yesterday are getting their first taste of getting run over by the Trump bus. ht…
@twittersafety @twittersafety on x
In regard to the ongoing situation in Washington, D.C., we are working proactively to protect the health of the public conversation occurring on the service and will take action on any content that violates the Twitter Rules.
@ron4california Ron Bassilian on x
It's a sneaky development in corporations, especially big tech. Rather than management making the decision, their employees claim to make it for them. That takes away agency and accountability. Of course, they hire the employees with such an ideological bent. https://twitter.com/…
@rweingarten Randi Weingarten on x
“It took blood and glass in the halls of Congress — and a change in the political winds — for the most powerful tech companies in the world to recognize, at the last possible moment, the profound threat of Donald Trump.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@rashadrobinson Rashad Robinson on x
Twitter banned Trump way too late, but it is still incredibly significant that we will move forward without him having a direct line to spread disinformation, incite the public and reach an audience any time that he wants to. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
@peterwsinger Peter W. Singer on x
“This is way too late, but I do not underestimate or undersell the significance of what this means moving forward without him having a direct line to reach an audience any time that he wanted to.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... #likewar
@conceptualjames James Lindsay on x
They put themselves on a list! https://twitter.com/...
@keziyahl Keziyah on x
So it was the workers who made this happen. https://twitter.com/...
@charliegilenbc Charlie Gile on x
I'd imagine this doesn't help Trump's future political plans. https://twitter.com/...
@wm_sadler William Sadler on x
At last. Good riddance. https://twitter.com/...
@ahiza_garcia Ahiza Garca-Hodges on x
Twitter's move follows “years of public pressure and several attempts to limit the reach of his account...Hundreds of employees [urged] CEO Jack Dorsey to ban [Trump] for using the platform to incite violence in the wake of the Capitol siege.” @BrandyZadrozny @oneunderscore__ htt…
@kbeninato Karen DaltonBeninato on x
He'll take this worse than prison and the second impeachment. https://twitter.com/...
@ahiza_garcia Ahiza Garca-Hodges on x
Here's @oneunderscore__'s developing story on Twitter's decision to permanently suspend Trump: https://twitter.com/...
@wkamaubell W. Kamau Bell on x
Well, that escalated slowly! https://www.nbcnews.com/...
@thepaulajones @thepaulajones on x
This isn't calling for destruction this tweet was asking for peaceful protest! The media will have you think that he agitated the protestors to be violent! Out right LIE from the media! 🌎🔥🤨 https://twitter.com/...
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
BREAKING: Twitter is taking dramatic action on remaining QAnon accounts for breaking their “Coordinated Harmful Activity” rules, some of whom heavily promoted Wednesday's storming of the Capitol. Mike Flynn, Sidney Powell, 8kun's Ron Watkins banned. Twitter's statement below: htt…
@brandyzadrozny Brandy Zadrozny on x
Breaking: Twitter is nuking the biggest QAnon accounts for “Coordinated Harmful Activity,” some of whom promoted the Capitol riots. General Flynn, Sidney Powell, Ron Watkins, included. Twitter's statement: https://twitter.com/...
@oneunderscore__ Ben Collins on x
Twitter will be banning major accounts that push QAnon on the platform after its followers stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, explicitly plotting it for weeks on various social media networks.
@zaackhunt Zack Hunt on x
It's like Christmas just keeps coming over and over and over again. https://twitter.com/...
@alkapdc Alex Kaplan on x
Major QAnon accounts that have been banned since this was announced already include: -QAnon76 -Praying Medic -intheMatrixxx -WeTheInevitable (who has ban evaded more than 20 times) https://twitter.com/...
Vox Meredith Haggerty on x
The controversy over Sean Hannity's Olive Garden “Pasta Pass,” explained
@sama Sam Altman on x
There are exemptions to free speech defined by the Supreme Court, and we urgently need new ones for the age of social media. What those exceptions are should be decided by the government, and fairly applied by companies.
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
I had some thoughts about Twitter's decision. I wrote a post. https://www.techdirt.com/...
@jameeljaffer Jameel Jaffer on x
Another way to look at this is that forcing publishers to publish the government's speech is what happens in China. https://twitter.com/...
@donaldjtrumpjr Donald Trump Jr on x
So the ayatollah, and numerous other dictatorial regimes can have Twitter accounts with no issue despite threatening genocide to entire countries and killing homosexuals etc... but The President of the United States should be permanently suspended. Mao would be proud.
@levie Aaron Levie on x
This is the tweet that ends all the tweets. https://twitter.com/...
@davidsacks David Sacks on x
Yes. Break them up. They deserve it. https://twitter.com/...
@suzanneevans1 Suzanne Evans on x
They've been dying to do this for the last five years. And whatever you think of Trump, they fact they've only done it to him and not numerous totally despotic and genocidal leaders around the world tells you everything you need to know. https://twitter.com/...
@edbott Ed Bott on x
This is the single best summary of the issues involved that I have read. https://twitter.com/...
@wired @wired on x
What changed was not Trump's behavior, but rather the facts on the ground: With the Capitol in shambles and blood spilled, the hypothesis that Trump's language could lead to violence had been replaced by the straightforward fact that it had. https://www.wired.com/...
@wired @wired on x
After Wednesday's attack, Trump's repeated election lies on Twitter seemed more likely to instigate violence than to quell it. https://www.wired.com/...
@deanobeidallah @deanobeidallah on x
What's remarkable is if you read the reason Twitter banned Trump is that they sincerely believed he was sending coded messages to his supporters to attack the Capitol again. This is where we are as a nation thanks to MAGA https://www.nytimes.com/...
@triketora Tracy Chou on x
you must be kidding me. jack dorsey is vacationing on an island in french polynesia. i'm mad enough about the shamelessly rich privileged and selfish people jaunting around the world during a pandemic already, but when you run a platform used to incite armed insurrection...??!?!!…
@gesfandiari Golnaz Esfandiari on x
“Without the tweets, I wouldn't be here,” Mr. Trump told The Financial Times in April 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
No man is an island https://twitter.com/...
@wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x
Photo of Jack being on a remote island https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@emilydreyfuss Emily Dreyfuss on x
In determining whether to ban Trump's account permanently, @Twitter took into account statements made off platform. We need all social platforms to do this more proactively. Often what is planned in a semi private space has bearing on the open web. https://blog.twitter.com/... ht…
@wired @wired on x
Two days after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, Twitter permanently banned Donald Trump “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” The pair of tweets that did him in, however, wouldn't even crack his thousand most egregious: https://www.wired.com/...
@nxthompson @nxthompson on x
The Tweets that got Trump banned were not in his top 1000 most egregious. Given the week, and how the Tweets were interpreted, one can see why Twitter did it. But it's not a sustainable model for content moderation. https://www.wired.com/...
@lukelpearson @lukelpearson on x
Yes, the government should decide who gets to speak on privately owned social platforms... I mean, I wish there was a govt agency responsible for choosing who gets to host IndigenousX or write articles for our website. It would be an Orwellian dream, as the saying goes. https://t…
@lukelpearson @lukelpearson on x
Also, there is no real precedent here. Privately owned media, including social media, have always reserved the right to prevent people from making comment on their platforms. The only precedent is that it happened to a sitting US president. https://twitter.com/...
@stevekopack Steve Kopack on x
Jack Dorsey is on a remote island as the company he runs bans Donald Trump, his campaign, and deletes tweets from @POTUS? https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@maxkennerly Max Kennerly on x
Yep. Banning a political figure is a complex, unique decision. Putting aside First Amendment issues—because there are none—I'm not troubled by the larger free speech implications because LOOK WHAT IT TOOK TO GET HERE. He deliberately incited an insurrection! He got people killed!…
@jameeljaffer Jameel Jaffer on x
Excellent. Worth reading. https://twitter.com/...
@lyssaslounge Katharina Borchert on x
Finally!! Quite late in the game and after leaving a trail of devastation. But yes, it's done. #TrumpOverAndOut https://twitter.com/...
@emptywheel Dr. emptywheel on x
If Twitter has proof that Donald Trump is involved in planning a[nother] terrorist attack for January 17, they need to share that with the House for impeachment purposes. https://blog.twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@samfbiddle Sam Biddle on x
this entire explanation is so completely incoherent, it really just drives home the point that 99% of Facebook and Twitter's “rules” are determined by “whatever will make people yell at us the least amount” https://blog.twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
The analysis of his last two tweets was stellar. It didn't even cross my mind that the reason for announcing he wouldn't be attending the inauguration was to send a signal that it was safe for a no holds barred attack https://blog.twitter.com/...
@alexleavitt Alex Leavitt, Ph.D. on x
If you care about social media moderation, read this adjudication. They *interpret* speech. That interpretive move from explicit content evaluation to implicit meaning is one of the most important decisions in content moderation policy enforcement in years https://blog.twitter.co…
@chrisfralic Chris Fralic on x
How it started “Just setting up my twttr” - @jack How it's going https://blog.twitter.com/...
@morningmoneyben Ben White on x
Twitter's full explanation is quite interesting. I hadn't thought of the inauguration tweet as potential incitement but it makes sense. Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump https://blog.twitter.com/...
@goangelo Angelo Carusone on x
So here is the thing people on Twitter need to understand. If you screenshot Trump's parler posts and then share them on Twitter, you are serving as a horocrux for Trump. You are also defeating the purpose of having him removed in first place. Don't do that. https://twitter.com/.…
@laurenthehough Lauren Hough on x
“All the other genocidal dictators have Twitter accounts” is a hell of a take https://twitter.com/...
@micsolana Mike Solana on x
an absolutely terrifying precedent https://twitter.com/...
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
This explanation by Twitter is chilling. They concluded that his obvious dog whistling today to supporters was encouraging a second coup attempt on 1/17 in DC: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump https://blog.twitter.com/...
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
Going to be a magical 24 hours on Parler before Apple shuts it down https://twitter.com/...

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