I'm surprised and pleased that Facebook upheld Trump's ban. Yes, it's just for six more months and then they'll have to address it again. But maybe they'll continue it, given his ongoing Big Lie rants -- but even if not, six more months is a lifetime in politics as the pandemic hopefully fades, business grows, and President Biden solidify his position..
When the Facebook decision was announced, Trump raged that it was an attack on free speech, which was taken away from him - except that, of course, he's not only free to talk all he wants, but he has more outlets to talk than most anyone in the country, if not the world. Actually, to be fully accurate, he wrote that, "Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States." Except that Joe Biden is the President of the United States. And no speech was taken away from him. Trump has apparently forgotten that he is a former president. What he also said was that "the Country won't stand for it" -- except the Country has stood for it just fine since the initial ban. There are some on the far right who are upset that he was banned, but there are no outraged protests and not lawsuits. Life has gone on. And to be clear, Trump was banned because he broke the Facebook rules that he had agreed to, and broke them many times. To be clear, as well, lest anyone try to make this a First Amendment issue -- it's not. The First Amendment is only about government not being allowed to make a law abridging speech. This is a business setting its own rules and standards, and that's perfectly legal. Oddly, if anyone is truly concerned with the First Amendment and government making laws that block speech, they might want to look at the new law passed by the Florida legislature that Gov. DeSantis has said he'll said that fines any social media outlet which bans a public official. That seems about as blatant an actual First Amendment issue as any. And it's hard to imagine it would withstand a Supreme Court challenge. But back to Facebook's decision, as much as I like that they continued the ban for some, I think some of their reasoning about readdressing the issue in six months is very misguided. It's not that a president, or politicians, or public officials should have more protections than the rules the general public has to follow, but at the very least exactly the same. The reality is that the gravity of a president, politician or public official breaking an outlet's rules and spreading misinformation and a Big Lie is far more massive than someone in the general public. And so the responsibility for a president, politician or public official is overwhelmingly greater. And a permanent ban for such people is far more important when considering how they should be treated in the end.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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