Twitter Blocked Trump’s Account; Merkel Thinks it was a Problematic Approach; French Finance Minister: Internet Giants Threaten Democracy
The personal Twitter account of the US President Donald Trump has been permanently blocked. Leaders of various countries have successively spoken out on the incident. German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated through her spokesperson that the approach of Twitter is problematic, and believed that the measure, which limited the freedom of speech, should be based on the legal framework and the legislature, rather than, decided by the social media management. Michael McCormack, the Acting Prime Minister of Australia, also indicated that he disagrees with the censorship. However, opposition leaders expressed their supports on Twitter’s decision and believed that people who spread hatred and lies should lose their voicing platform.
Angela Merkel responded through her spokesperson Steffen Seibert that the freedom of speech is “the fundamental rights with core meanings”. “Limitations on the basic right must be based on law and complying with the framework defined by the legislator, instead of based on the decision made by the management of social media”. Seibert also said that social media operations have a great social responsibility for hate, incitement to violence and other speeches, which should not be ignored. The platform’s practices of making relevant speeches in the past few months were commendable.
Other European leaders also responded to this incident. French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, indicated that a private entrepreneur should not decide whether to block an account. He was shocked by the action of Twitter blocking Trump’s account. He added internet giants bring threats to the US and democracy, and that countries and legislative council should take the responsibility to manage social media.
#US #UnitedStates #France #BrunoLeMaire #Germany #AngelaMerkel #SteffenSeibert #Australia #Twitter #FreedomOfSpeech #FreedomIsNotFree #Democracy #SocialMedia #AcountBlocked
Source from: The Stand News #Jan12
https://bit.ly/3982hEh
The personal Twitter account of the US President Donald Trump has been permanently blocked. Leaders of various countries have successively spoken out on the incident. German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated through her spokesperson that the approach of Twitter is problematic, and believed that the measure, which limited the freedom of speech, should be based on the legal framework and the legislature, rather than, decided by the social media management. Michael McCormack, the Acting Prime Minister of Australia, also indicated that he disagrees with the censorship. However, opposition leaders expressed their supports on Twitter’s decision and believed that people who spread hatred and lies should lose their voicing platform.
Angela Merkel responded through her spokesperson Steffen Seibert that the freedom of speech is “the fundamental rights with core meanings”. “Limitations on the basic right must be based on law and complying with the framework defined by the legislator, instead of based on the decision made by the management of social media”. Seibert also said that social media operations have a great social responsibility for hate, incitement to violence and other speeches, which should not be ignored. The platform’s practices of making relevant speeches in the past few months were commendable.
Other European leaders also responded to this incident. French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, indicated that a private entrepreneur should not decide whether to block an account. He was shocked by the action of Twitter blocking Trump’s account. He added internet giants bring threats to the US and democracy, and that countries and legislative council should take the responsibility to manage social media.
#US #UnitedStates #France #BrunoLeMaire #Germany #AngelaMerkel #SteffenSeibert #Australia #Twitter #FreedomOfSpeech #FreedomIsNotFree #Democracy #SocialMedia #AcountBlocked
Source from: The Stand News #Jan12
https://bit.ly/3982hEh