Several Republican leaders, including popular Indian- American politician Nikki Haley, have condemned Twitter for permanently deactivating outgoing President Donald Trump’s account , saying that the “U.S. is not China”.
Twitter on Friday permanently suspended Mr. Trump’s account due to the “risk of further incitement of violence”, days after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and caused the deaths of four civilians and a police officer.
“Silencing people, not to mention the President of the U.S., is what happens in China not our country,” tweeted Ms. Haley on Friday.
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“Unbelievable,” said the former U.S. Ambassador to the UN who during a closed-door meeting of the Republican National Committee in Florida on Thursday strongly condemned Mr. Trump’s comments inciting supporters to mount an attack on the U.S. Capitol. The President has not always chosen the right words and his actions post-election will be “judged harshly by history”, she had said in the meeting.
U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson, joined Ms. Haley in opposing the Twitter’s move.
“Silencing a significant number of voters and erasing history is no way to unite us; it only further divides. Big tech and social media platforms want to act like media organisations but don’t want to be held accountable with the rest of media. Speech should be free whether you agree or not,” he said.
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“United States is not China”, Mr. Carson asserted.
“You want to ban @realDonaldTrump, fine you’re a private company, but @Twitter deleting the President’s account which highlights this admin & its history is wrong. @Facebook & @instagram banning all images from the Capitol riot is a dangerous precedent to set. We aren’t in China,” he tweeted.
Twitter also suspended the account of Donald Trump campaign and deleted his tweets from the official twitter handle of the U.S. President. Twitter also suspended the account of Donald Trump campaign digital director Gary Coby after he changed his Twitter name to ‘Donald Trump’ and tweeted from the account.
“Disgusting,” tweeted Jason Miller, a long-time Trump adviser. “Big Tech wants to cancel all 75M @realDonaldTrump supporters. If you don’t think they’re coming for you next, you’re wrong,” he added.
The President’s son, Donald Trump Jr., likened the Twitter’s move to George Orwell’s “1984”. “We are living Orwell’s 1984. Free-speech no longer exists in America. It died with big tech and what’s left is only there for a chosen few. This is absolute insanity!,” he tweeted.
“Mao would be proud,” he said in another tweet, referring to Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People’s Republic of China.