Twitter blocks Trump - is that a cause for joy, relief, malice?
Christian Deutschländer warns that the process shows the risks to democracy in social networks soaked in hate.
Twitter
bans
Trump
and the world claps.
But when the malice subsides, enlightened
Western democracies
should
think twice about what exactly
happened
in the parallel world of
social networks
.
And not just now.
Donald Trump and Twitter: Only now to block - that's not brave
For years, tech giants have made themselves
Trump's instrument of power
out of primarily economic interests
.
For his communication, the tireless attacks on the supposed "system", Twitter was indispensable.
And for Twitter it was a gold mine that this president steered his politics and his structures through this platform.
+
Christian Deutschländer, Head of Politics at Münchner Merkur.
© Marcus sleep.
Now, after more than
56,000 tweets, often full of hatred and agitation
, after the mobilization of the mob, now that the change of power in the USA has been sealed, Twitter (including
Facebook, Instagram
and the distribution channels for
Parler
)
are turning away
from Trump.
Oh - what rabbit courage!
Twitter blocks Trump: company headquarters decide what is left to read - that is extremely dangerous
Anyone who celebrates the corporations for it overlooks something else: as compliant as they have spread the
democracy-destroying messages of Trump
(and countless other radicals from all over the world) so far, the end is now also arbitrary.
Company headquarters
decide
without democratic control
what can still be read and what is deleted.
We may be happy about that at Trump in the short term, but in reality it is extremely dangerous.
Social networks are great because they give people space to vote and debate.
For too long they have been
misunderstood
as lawless spaces for
hatred, agitation and disinformation
, and unfortunately they are particularly vulnerable to those who have never learned digital messaging skills.
The Trump drama teaches us that underestimating these risks can
tip
a
democracy
.