Twitter’s hypocrisy exposed as they target Conservatives
Twitter is in hot water after attempting to “fact-check” a series of Tweets made by President Trump regarding his concerns over the security of mail-in ballots. The attempt to censor Conservatives is not new – it’s just the most recent in a series of offenses made by the social media outlet in an attempt to stomp out freedom of speech among Conservatives.
Back in 2017, a Twitter employee went so far as to deactivate President Trump’s account. Though the account was later reinstated, it began a long-brewing feud between Conservatives and the Silicon Valley based company.
President Trump was quick to respond to this latest offense. He left the social media outlet with a clear warning, “Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence Conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that happen again. Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!”
This call to action highlights the major issue with social media outlets like Twitter. Though Twitter claims to be merely a platform for the public to share their thoughts, they have violated that idea by attempting to censor President Trump and violate his constitutional right to freedom of speech. Twitter has now taken on the role of a publisher, a dictator of content, rather than a platform for free use.
Think back to Nicholas Sandmann, the sixteen-year-old Covington Catholic student who was relentlessly bullied and vilified by Leftist media. Sandmann sued news outlets that portrayed him unfairly or inaccurately and rightfully won. Sandmann could not hold social media platforms accountable for posts defaming him, however, because they claimed they were not responsible for the content of posts made by their users.
Donald Trump hasn’t been the only Conservative voice silenced by social media tyrants in recent years. PragerU, a non-profit that creates videos and other Conservative content, had two videos removed because they contained “hate speech,” although Facebook never explained what portion of the video they were referring to. In addition, PragerU personality Will Witt shared that nine of the organization’s posts were completely censored, reaching zero of their three million followers.
Twitter has been known to hold Liberal celebrities to a much different standard, allowing them to break community guidelines. Kathy Griffin posted a graphic image of Trump’s severed head shortly after he was elected. While she face massive outrage from Liberals and Conservatives alike, Twitter still has allowed her to put out threatening Tweets over the past two years. This serves as the perfect example of the double standard Twitter holds in favor of those who politically align with their agenda.
If Twitter wants to take on the powers of a publisher, its leaders must also take full responsibility for what is posted on their site. In cases of defamation, Twitter should be responsible for the words of others if they are also editing, “fact-checking,” or removing posts.