German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that President Trump’s ban from Twitter is a “problematic” breach of the “fundamental right to free speech.”
“This fundamental right can be intervened in, but according to the law and within the framework defined by legislators, not according to a decision by the management of social media platforms,” a spokesman for Merkel told reporters. “Seen from this angle, the chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the U.S. president have now been permanently blocked.”
The spokesman said that Merkel believes that social media companies “bear great responsibility for political communication not being poisoned by hatred, by lies, and by incitement to violence.”
While her spokesman said Merkel disagreed with the outright ban, he said that companies shouldn’t just “stand back” and let such content be posted but they could use tools such as flagging the post instead of a ban.
Twitter permanently banned Trump from its platform Friday amid fears the president risked sparking a “further incitement of violence” after a crowd of his supporters overwhelmed the U.S. Capitol last week.
The move by Twitter followed the lead of fellow social media giant Facebook, which banned the president at least through the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 20.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Trump’s posts on the platform were “likely” intended to escalate the violence at the Capitol and that Trump “intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power.”
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg wrote in the post explaining the ban. “Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”
