In the last few days all eyes have been focused on the situation in the United States. After shocking attack on Capitol, Donald Trump’s Twitter account was permanently suspended due to the risk of further incitement to violence. This decision also induced an incredibly heated discussion about not only social media but also about the freedom of speech. There are a few questions. Firstly, how do we understand the freedom of speech? Secondly, where are the limits? Twitter and Facebook are private companies and it can be sad that they can do whatever they want. But can they just delete someone’s account only because his opinions and beliefs are not in line with those who run this company? On the other hand we can say that this person can create an account on the other website but the problem is that Twitter and Facebook are now the most important and influential media and for some Americans the only source of information. I think that its something more than only website. In last years social media have grown significantly and they participate in our life at every step. I think that nowadays especially in the times of pandemic, we can say that social medias are equivalent to social space. For a politician like Donald Trump it is the only way to communicate with his voters and supporters. Of course it can be claimed that his speeches and tweets were harmful and incited violence in people and consequently led to the attack on Capitol and deaths of 5 innocent people but the question remains if blocking a public person’s account is not a form of censorship even if this person is well known for his controversial statements. If we agree with banning Trump and giving the green light to the companies like Twitter and Facebook to ban who ever they want, we can imagine the situation that in the future these companies could make a deal which candidate to support and present only positive information about their chosen candidate and at the same time limit the other candidate or present him only in a bad light and in this way they will be able to manipulate the public opinion and deprive people of their right to the reliable and objective information and as a result their basic right of a free choice.
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/08/tech/trump-twitter-ban/index.html
