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Ben Thompson wrote an interesting analysis of this issue, that boils down to this: Trump finally got booted from these platforms not really because of his TOS
by Qub3d 6y ago
Ben Thompson wrote an interesting analysis of this issue, that boils down to this:
Trump finally got booted from these platforms not really because of his TOS violations. Rather, he was removed because it became clear that the structures used to manage higher-order social issues have failed (read: The US Government), and so the players lower down the stack were compelled to step in.
"Yes, respecting democracy is a reason to not act over policy disagreements, no matter how horrible those policies may be, but preserving democracy is, by definition, even higher on the priority stack.
Turn off Trump’s account."
https://stratechery.com/2021/trump-and-twitter/ https://stratechery.com/2021/trump-and-twitter/
- ineedasername 6y agoI have a more cynical reading of the sudden actions: Legal liability. Among a history of ToS violations, we finally had ones that weren't muddy & deniable, but represented a bright line crossing in support of illegal action. An argument could be made (especially "securities fraud") that these platforms have their own legal liability in supporting these illegal actions because they allowed them despite violating their own ToS. I'm sure there was some belief along the line of "it's the right thing to do" as well. There was also probably some consideration that with Democrats having both Congress & the White House their actions, among those in power, were less likely to be interpreted as too heavy handed. Ultimately though I think legal liability may have been the largest factor.