Trump’s Twitter Ban Was Unfair, but Not for the Reason You Think

Donald Trump's account was locked out after he supported an insurrection on the Capitol. Even though leaders have supported genocide and threatened violence, they have not been banned from the website. Less than six months later, in June, the Nigerian president posted a threat against the groups in the southwest. The account remained live even though it was taken down.

Two years after Donald Trump was banned from the site, Musk released a series of documents that claimed the site got it wrong. The leaked documents show how the platform made decisions before Musk took over.

Weiss claims that the decision to ban Trump was unprecedented, deviating from the site's reactions to other heads of state who incited or supported violence with their statements. She said that leaders in Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, and Iran showed restraint when it came to deciding whether or not to keep political figures on the platform. The decision to keep other public figures on the site was not made public.

Weiss interpreted the reluctance to use such measures against other world leaders as evidence that Trump was treated unfairly, but the documents show that the company underestimated the danger its platform posed in contexts outside the US. It would have been possible for Trump's ban to apply to other leaders as well.

An employee at an organization that was part of the trust and safety council said that vulnerable communities in far away countries are less important than relationships with leaders. The employee asked for anonymity because they are worried that their organization will be targeted by harassment and threats.

Some of the discrepancy may be due to how different governments respond to moderation. A ban was imposed on the company after they removed the threat against the people of Biafra. The company agreed to open a local office, pay local taxes, and register as a broadcaster in order to get the government to allow them back into business. Legislation is being considered in Nigeria.

Kian Vesteinsson is the senior research analyst for tech and democracy at Freedom House, a nonprofit research and advocacy group focused on technology.