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Angela Merkel calls Trump Twitter ban 'problematic'

28 points by nec4b 6y ago

nec4b 6y ago
When the closest allies of the USA (France, Germany), the Russian opposition leader and countless other leaders telling you, that banning a president of your country goes against everything the USA meant in the world, maybe it's time to hit a pause button and reflect on that. For many people all over the world this is the lowest America has ever stooped.
- res0nat0r 6y ago
  If the POTUS wouldn't have kept breaking Twitters TOS service daily, he wouldn't have been banned. The same policy which applies to everyone else. Twitter also isn't "America", it's a private company that can ban whatever unprotected category of people it wants to do. Also I'm pretty sure Germany still has bands on much Nazi propaganda and paraphernalia as a whole. Trump is free to have a press conference and take questions at any time.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
  A company bans a malicious user who happens to be President of the United States and that's the lowest we've ever stooped? I'm sorry, have you met us? In the ways in which we've gone against everything we meant in the world, I'd think at least all the torture prisons we ran would be a lot higher on the list than this.
  - nec4b 6y ago
    There is a lot of people around the world living in countries where a single wrong word can cost you and your family a lot. All those oppressed masses would immigrate to the USA in a heartbeat if they could and you think they care about terrorist getting tortured?
    - loopz 6y ago
      The lies need to stop somewhere. The invation of Iraq on faulty grounds destabilized the region. The prisoners of that war escaped and formed ISIS, which turned out to be an even bigger problem. The lies need to stop somewhere.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
ceejayoz 6y ago
> "The right to freedom of opinion is of fundamental importance," Merkel's spokesman said. Oh, c'mon. Germany explicitly bans - at the government level, not individual private corporations - "use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations", including that of Nazis, Communists, and Islamic extremism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafgesetzbuch_section_86a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafgesetzbuch_section_86a Holocaust denial is also sanctionable, along with "Disparagement of the Memory of Deceased Persons". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_Holocaust_denial#Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_Holocaust_denial#G...
- nec4b 6y ago
  Does make you wander when the head of a state with all the limitations you have enumerated says you have gone too far?
  - ceejayoz 6y ago
    No, not when they’re being this bafflingly hypocritical. I have demonstrably stronger freedom of speech/opinion protections here versus Germany.
    - nec4b 6y ago
      Ok, Merkel's opinion is invalid because she is "baffling hypocritical". Why is the opinion of the French finance minister invalid (he said he was "shocked" to hear what twitter did)? Why is the opinion of the Russian opposition leader Navalny invalid?
      - ceejayoz 6y ago
        I said it didn’t make me wonder, not that they aren’t entitled to their opinions.
    - ephimetheus 6y ago
      I chuckle every time this comes up on HN how hilariously wrong people like you are about this.
eric_b 6y ago
In 2020 a major theme was "de-escalation" when it comes to policing. Instead of ratcheting up the intensity the police should try and calm things down. I think most people on HN can agree with that idea. Let cooler heads prevail. So why then are people applauding Big Tech and the politicians when they do the opposite? De-platforming the president, cutting off Parler, these actions will inflame already high tensions. Impeaching trump again with 9 days to go before he's gone? It's a major escalation. The media and the politicians seem to want armed rebellion. It's so totally fucked up. And half the country doesn't see the other half as anything but "racist". The media has ruined America. Game over.
- nec4b 6y ago
  Half the people believe America is overrun by the nazis or the fascist. And they the heroes fighting them, and when people from other countries look at them weirdly, when people who understand and felt what an oppressive regime does to a man, say what are you talking about, they double down. It would be a fun experiment to see how many times those two words occur on average daily on HN.
  - ephimetheus 6y ago
    What do you call the guys with “Camp Auschwitz” and “6MWE” on their shirts? Concerned citizens?
    - nec4b 6y ago
      >What do you call the guys with “Camp Auschwitz” and “6MWE” on their shirts? Concerned citizens? The same as I call the people on twitter who write "kill all white men". And when you see somebody with a Che Guevara t shirt or Mao t shirt on the street, do you start seeing marxists conspiracy everywhere?
- danielrpa 6y ago
  And the escalation is actually welcome news to Trump. It supports his narrative of being the enemy of the "deep state" and the "swamp". Sidestepping the moral question of whether the bans are deserved or not, they are a huge strategic mistake that will strengthen the very same people they try to silence. Just wait until we're talking in a few years about "Why extremist candidate X won" like the many "Why Trump won" threads we saw 4 years ago.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

28 points by nec4b 6y ago

When the closest allies of the USA (France, Germany), the Russian opposition leader and countless other leaders telling you, that banning a president of your country goes against everything the USA meant in the world, maybe it's time to hit a pause button and reflect on that. For many people all over the world this is the lowest America has ever stooped.

res0nat0r 6y ago
If the POTUS wouldn't have kept breaking Twitters TOS service daily, he wouldn't have been banned. The same policy which applies to everyone else. Twitter also isn't "America", it's a private company that can ban whatever unprotected category of people it wants to do. Also I'm pretty sure Germany still has bands on much Nazi propaganda and paraphernalia as a whole. Trump is free to have a press conference and take questions at any time.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
A company bans a malicious user who happens to be President of the United States and that's the lowest we've ever stooped? I'm sorry, have you met us? In the ways in which we've gone against everything we meant in the world, I'd think at least all the torture prisons we ran would be a lot higher on the list than this.
- nec4b 6y ago
  There is a lot of people around the world living in countries where a single wrong word can cost you and your family a lot. All those oppressed masses would immigrate to the USA in a heartbeat if they could and you think they care about terrorist getting tortured?
  - loopz 6y ago
    The lies need to stop somewhere. The invation of Iraq on faulty grounds destabilized the region. The prisoners of that war escaped and formed ISIS, which turned out to be an even bigger problem. The lies need to stop somewhere.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

ceejayoz 6y ago

> "The right to freedom of opinion is of fundamental importance," Merkel's spokesman said. Oh, c'mon. Germany explicitly bans - at the government level, not individual private corporations - "use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations", including that of Nazis, Communists, and Islamic extremism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafgesetzbuch_section_86a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strafgesetzbuch_section_86a Holocaust denial is also sanctionable, along with "Disparagement of the Memory of Deceased Persons". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_Holocaust_denial#Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_Holocaust_denial#G...

nec4b 6y ago
Does make you wander when the head of a state with all the limitations you have enumerated says you have gone too far?
- ceejayoz 6y ago
  No, not when they’re being this bafflingly hypocritical. I have demonstrably stronger freedom of speech/opinion protections here versus Germany.
  - nec4b 6y ago
    Ok, Merkel's opinion is invalid because she is "baffling hypocritical". Why is the opinion of the French finance minister invalid (he said he was "shocked" to hear what twitter did)? Why is the opinion of the Russian opposition leader Navalny invalid?
    - ceejayoz 6y ago
      I said it didn’t make me wonder, not that they aren’t entitled to their opinions.
  - ephimetheus 6y ago
    I chuckle every time this comes up on HN how hilariously wrong people like you are about this.

eric_b 6y ago

In 2020 a major theme was "de-escalation" when it comes to policing. Instead of ratcheting up the intensity the police should try and calm things down. I think most people on HN can agree with that idea. Let cooler heads prevail. So why then are people applauding Big Tech and the politicians when they do the opposite? De-platforming the president, cutting off Parler, these actions will inflame already high tensions. Impeaching trump again with 9 days to go before he's gone? It's a major escalation. The media and the politicians seem to want armed rebellion. It's so totally fucked up. And half the country doesn't see the other half as anything but "racist". The media has ruined America. Game over.

nec4b 6y ago
Half the people believe America is overrun by the nazis or the fascist. And they the heroes fighting them, and when people from other countries look at them weirdly, when people who understand and felt what an oppressive regime does to a man, say what are you talking about, they double down. It would be a fun experiment to see how many times those two words occur on average daily on HN.
- ephimetheus 6y ago
  What do you call the guys with “Camp Auschwitz” and “6MWE” on their shirts? Concerned citizens?
  - nec4b 6y ago
    >What do you call the guys with “Camp Auschwitz” and “6MWE” on their shirts? Concerned citizens? The same as I call the people on twitter who write "kill all white men". And when you see somebody with a Che Guevara t shirt or Mao t shirt on the street, do you start seeing marxists conspiracy everywhere?
danielrpa 6y ago
And the escalation is actually welcome news to Trump. It supports his narrative of being the enemy of the "deep state" and the "swamp". Sidestepping the moral question of whether the bans are deserved or not, they are a huge strategic mistake that will strengthen the very same people they try to silence. Just wait until we're talking in a few years about "Why extremist candidate X won" like the many "Why Trump won" threads we saw 4 years ago.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]