Twitter has confirmed former US president Donald Trump will not be welcomed back to the social network, after he was banned following last month’s riot at the US Capitol.
The company’s CFO Ned Segal says that Trump will not be allowed back on Twitter, even if he were to run for public office again and become an elected official.
While president, Trump was able to escape the Twitter ban hammer due to an exemption afforded to public officials, who’s words are deemed to be in the public interest. Many of Trump’s tweets @RealDonaldTrump were slapped with warnings over false and misleading claims of election fraud, while others were deleted due to fears they may incite violence. However, he escaped a ban.
The attempted violence in Washington DC – for which Trump is currently subject to an impeachment trial in the US Senate over charges of “Incitement of Insurrection” – and the subsequent tweets were the final straw for Twitter, who kicked the outgoing president off the platform on January 8. That was two weeks before he left office.
However, in Wednesday’s interview, Segal bluntly pointed out there was no way back for the former president even if he somehow wins another election.
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“The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the platform — whether you’re a commentator, you’re a CFO, or you are a former or current public official,” Segal said in an interview on CNBC on Wednesday.
“Remember, our policies are designed to make sure that people are not inciting violence, and if anybody does that, we have to remove them from the service and our policies don’t allow people to come back.”
You can see the interview (via TechCrunch) below:
"The way our policies work, when you're removed from the platform, you're removed from the platform whether you're a commentator, you're a CFO or you are a former or current public official," says $TWTR CFO @nedsegal on if President Trump's account could be restored. pic.twitter.com/ZZxascb9Rz
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) February 10, 2021
Many believe Trump’s years of promoting conspiracy theories like the ‘Obama birther’ assertions helped his political star to rise. However, his use of the platform during his time in office led to debates over free speech and the responsibility of social media platforms to fight back against misinformation.
To the relief of many, he won’t be back. However, for Trump’s legions of supporters, the permanent ban will only further their believe that big tech is out to censor conservative voices.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.