Twitter Inc. has done something that was once thought unimaginable. It shut down one of its biggest attractions — Donald Trump’s account — and in doing so also canceled a sitting U.S. president.
The ban and public-safety rationale behind it are part of a wave of crackdowns on the public digital spaces where the president’s most radicalized supporters congregate, and it comes in response to the violence and bloodshed of last week’s assault on the Capitol. Over the weekend, fledgling conservative social network Parler’s was effectively shut off by the technology giants it relied on to reach its user base – including its removal from Google’s and Apple Inc.’s app stores and the decision by Amazon.com Inc.
Amazon Web Services to stop hosting Parler’s service. While the logic behind the actions was legitimate, the latest developments illustrate the power these companies possess as gatekeepers of content and information; their willingness to exercise that power opens a new chapter in the story of Big Tech.
The actions were the right thing to do and inevitable at this point, as I argued last week, even if they do raise larger questions about technology companies as the arbiters of discourse and highlight the arbitrary nature of the standards and rules that govern content across the industry. The evidence is incontrovertible that the angry mob had used Facebook, Twitter and Parler to coordinate their Jan. 6 attack. Twitter said one of the main reasons for its suspension was a proliferation of posts planning future armed rallies after Trump’s most recent tweets. To allow the same extremists to again use public platforms to incite more violence would be irresponsible given the events of last week, so it’s good they’ve been shut down.
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