Twitter used to be the free-speech wing of the free-speech party, so they were generally tolerated in most countries (China a notable exception). They have obv

Twitter used to be the free-speech wing of the free-speech party, so they were generally tolerated in most countries (China a notable exception). They have obviously changed course, gradually and subtly, over the years. But these changes went largely unnoticed because only very fringe people were affected by this. When Trump was banned, people realized how vulnerable their dependence on Twitter was, and sought out new platforms.