On Wednesday, social media behemoth Twitter said they will not allow Former US President Donald Trump to return to the microblogging site even if he decides to run for office again.
According to the reports, Twitter Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal said that former US President Donald Trump will never be back on Twitter, even if he wins the 2024 Presidential elections. Segal said that their policies do not allow people to come back.
“The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the platform, whether you’re a commentator, a CFO or a current or former public official,” Ned Segal said in an interview.
The micro-blogging site, imposing an arbitrary ban, had blocked former President Trump’s account a few days after the Capitol Hill riots at Washington DC on January 6. Along with Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms had also banned Trump after the US Capitol incident.
“Our policies are designed to ensure that people are not inciting violence,” Segal explained claiming that if anybody does that they would have to remove them from the service and our policies do not allow people to come back.
Ironically, Twitter’s decision to permanently ban former POTUS Donald Trump for his alleged incitement of violence comes at a time when they are failing to impose similar bans on accounts that peddled hate speech and incited violence using fake news in India, even after the Red Fort vandalism on Republic day.
Twitter claims to fight hate speech but has different standards for India
A major controversy has erupted in the country after Twitter disrespected Indian laws by refusing to follow orders passed by an elected government asking them to ban anti-India and pro-Khalistani accounts that incited violence on the platform.
The Indian government had issued a new notice to social media giant Twitter directing it to block 1,400 accounts from Pakistan peddling Khalistani secessionism during the protests. The misuse of the social media platform for spreading anti-India propaganda, provocative content and misinformation had irked the Union government. The government said hat the said Twitter accounts have the potential to cause a threat to public order.
However, Twitter had shown its reluctance to comply with the central government’s notice under Section 69A of the IT Act. The social media site has banned only a handful of 1,400 handles, and Twitter said it would not be taking action against any media, journalists, activists, and politicians, citing free speech. Twitter also claimed that they did not believe that the actions they have been directed to take are consistent with Indian law.
Twitter’s dubious standards had irked the government, who had to warn the tech-giant that its patience was wearing out over the company’s refusal to follow the rules under Section 69A of the IT Act. The Indian government is also mulling action against Twitter officials for failing to comply with Indian laws and regulations and promoting hate speech on its platform.