Facebook removed a video of Donald Trump doing an interview with his daughter-in-law Lara Trump. The interview was for Lara’s show “The Right View.” Facebook says the removal of the interview is due to Trump’s multiple indefinite social media bans. The removal shows just how far Facebook is willing to enforce its suspension, which followed the riot in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
They Want to Erase Donald Trump
Lara Trump was rightfully upset about her father-in-law being censored; censorship in the media seems like something that goes against the first amendment. “This is not the country we want to live in. This is something that happens in communist countries, guys. But, I think the message here is they want to erase Donald Trump.” Lara said in an interview with Fox. “They want you to forget he ever existed. They don’t want you to see him, they don’t want you to hear from him. Look away, move on, shut up and go on about your lives, forget Donald Trump existed. This is really scary stuff.” It is very scary stuff indeed. How can we just remove a Former President from the public eye? An email Lara Trump posted shows a message warning her team about uploading the Facebook video. The email reminded them that “content posted on Facebook and Instagram in the voice of President Trump is not currently allowed on our platform (including new posts with President Trump speaking) and will be removed if posted, resulting in additional limitations on accounts that posted it.”
Facebook’s Nick Clegg, vice president of global affairs, wrote at the time that the decision was made in “extraordinary circumstances in which a sitting president was actively fomenting a violent insurrection designed to thwart the peaceful transition of power; five people killed; legislators fleeing the seat of democracy. This has never happened before – and we hope it will never happen again, it was an unprecedented set of events which called for unprecedented action.” The decision to block Trump’s access was praised by Trump critics and the Left but was majorly concerning to Trump supporters and free speech advocates who warned it set a dangerous precedent. They are exactly right, today it is President Trump tomorrow it could be you, if you haven’t experienced extreme censorship on social media already. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has said he is uneasy with Facebook’s power to silence world leaders. Even Bernie Sanders, a major critic of Trump, said he was not comfortable with Big Tech blocking Trump’s access to social media after the Capitol riot. Which social media will Trump be allowed to have again?
Trump Banned by Big Tech
Lara Trump Posted the photo of the email reiterating Trump’s ban on her Instagram saying we are one step closer to Orson Wells novel 1984. It seems like we get closer and closer to having a real life “Big Brother” because of Big Tech. YouTube and other social media companies also indefinitely suspended Trump’s account, censoring him almost completely. Snapchat and Twitter permanently banned Trump. YouTube said it would lift Trump’s ban when the risk of violence was over. Facebook has left the decision in the hands of an advisory board after Trump appealed his ban for both them and Instagram.
Even if all of these options fail Donald Trump has a plan B. Trump spokesman Jason Miller said the former president would return to social media with his own social network if all else fails. “I do think that we’re going to see President Trump returning to social media, probably in about two or three months here, with his own platform,” Miller recently told Fox News. “This is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media. It’s going to completely redefine the game. And everybody is going to be waiting and watching to see what President Trump does, but it will be his own platform.” Parler has offered the former President a 40% ownership in exchange for making Parler his main social media account. It is unclear how involved Trump actually was in negotiations and whether or not the deal pushed through. It is very clear, however, Trump will thankfully not be silenced anytime soon.
Written by: Erinn Malloy
