Trump’s Well-Deserved Twitter Ban

RANDY YANG (Opinions Editor)

On Jan. 8, Donald Trump’s Twitter account was banned shortly after he incited the violence that occurred during the domestic terrorist attack on the U.S Capitol. As a result of this attack, five people were killed, including one police officer. Trump has had this ban a long time coming as even before the events of the Capitol riots occurred he received several warnings from Twitter in the form of censored tweets. His tweets continually spread misinformation about election fraud, as well as other divisive rhetoric. Twitter did the right thing in pulling the plug on Trump’s Twitter account and it should come as no surprise to anyone considering the amount of hate which was spread.

Many are arguing that Trump’s second amendment right to freedom of speech is being infringed upon with this ban, however, this is not the case when the fact that Twitter is a private company is considered. When Trump originally signed up for his Twitter account, he agreed to the terms and conditions that Twitter put forth, which gave them the right to take the privilege of having an account taken away if he were to incite violence or promote hate speech, which he unequivocally did. Furthermore, freedom of speech does not imply freedom from consequences.

Trump has used his platform on Twitter to rile up his supporters through false and unbacked claims of voter fraud. Through these actions, he has single-handedly destroyed the trust in the system of our democracy and of fair elections for years to come. Through his Twitter account, Trump has caused an unspeakable amount of damage to not only our Capitol, but our democracy and America as a whole. 

The ban on Donald Trump’s Twitter account was undoubtedly the best thing that could have been done to preserve democracy in the United States. For years, his Twitter account has been a breeding ground of hate and its effects can be seen today. Because of this, there is no doubt that Trump’s Twitter ban was completely warranted.