WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — In an unprecedented move, many social media outlets, including Facebook and Twitter, suspended President Donald Trump’s accounts after violent mobs stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Twitter has since restored access, but Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his platform will ban Trump from posting indefinitely, or at least until the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, argues that Trump can’t remain on Twitter or in office, calling him “a clear and present danger.”
Markey said the president’s actions incited an insurrection at the Capitol, and for that reason alone, he should be removed from office.
“We have to impeach Donald Trump,” he said.
He also believes Twitter shouldn’t allow Trump access to his account so long as there’s tension in the air.
“Twitter should revoke the privileges of Trump for the safety of our country,” he said.
Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland, said he thinks Facebook did the right thing by suspending Trump’s account indefinitely.
“The actions being taken by the social media platforms are appropriate, but the cause is the person who is in the White House and he shouldn’t be in the White House,” Cardin said. “When someone incites violence you don’t want to be apart of that.”
Carl Szabo, the vice president of NetChoice, said social media companies are legally allowed to restrict user accounts, including the president’s.
“They have the legal flexibility to do so,” he said.
Szabo said this is why Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act must remain intact.
“There have been calls to remove such flexibility, but if we do so, then we really do endanger forcing platforms to leave up content that is objectionable, when it’s not only inappropriate but dangerous,” Szabo said.
Trump vetoed the annual defense bill last month in part because it didn’t repeal Section 230.
