Social media companies “should err on the side of allowing a wide range of political speech, even when it offends,” said ACLU executive director Anthony Romero.
QUICK FACTS:
- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) supported Meta’s choice to allow Trump back on Facebook and Instagram.
- “This is the right call,” tweeted the ACLU. “Like it or not, President Trump is one of the country’s leading political figures and the public has a strong interest in hearing his speech.”
- “While the government cannot force platforms to carry certain speech, that doesn’t mean the largest platforms should engage in political censorship,” said ACLU executive director Anthony Romero.
- “The biggest social media companies are central actors when it comes to our collective ability to speak—and hear the speech of others—online,” Romero continued. “They should err on the side of allowing a wide range of political speech, even when it offends.”
- Head of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and a former American Civil Liberties Union official Jameel Jaffer, who previously supported the social media ban on Trump, also said reinstating Trump’s accounts is the “right call.”
RESPONSES TO TRUMP’S SOCIAL MEDIA REINSTATEMENT:
- Trump has not suggested whether or not he would use Meta’s social platforms.
- The former president has compared the loss of revenue for Meta platforms with his own media platform Truth Social’s success, saying, “THANK YOU TO TRUTH SOCIAL FOR DOING SUCH AN INCREDIBLE JOB. YOUR GROWTH IS OUTSTANDING, AND FUTURE UNLIMITED!!!”
- Meta official Nick Clegg said that if Trump violates “Community Standards” moving forward, he will face “heightened penalties for repeat offenses—penalties which will apply to other public figures whose accounts are reinstated from suspensions related to civil unrest under our updated protocol.”
- When Elon Musk made the decision to reinstate Trump to Twitter, the ACLU stated that people would be “hard-pressed to find a more steadfast opponent of Trump and his policies,” but acknowledged that it was the “right call.”
BACKGROUND:
- Despite the media’s decision to reinstate Trump, other providers continue their campaign against conservative voices in media.
- Donald Trump recently cut ties with DirecTV after it was learned that the company dropped Newsmax from its stations.
- He posted on Truth Social that the decision is “disgusting” and a “big blow to the Republican Party.”
- Trump added, “For DIRECTV to drop very popular NEWSMAX, without explanation, will not be accepted. I, for one, will be dropping all association with AT&T and DIRECTV, and I have plenty. This is just one of many reasons why we must WIN IN 2024!!!”
