By Shania Pagan
Banned. Deleted. Never to return. Former President Donald Trump was blocked by multiple social media platforms back in January 2020. These bans were included but not limited to, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Following riots at The United States Capitol, a multitude of his posts and tweets were censored and disputed by the app creators, which eventually led to his complete ban from the platforms. Now his advisor, Jason Miller, says he’ll be back with his own platform, free to say and post whatever he chooses to.
Commenting for Fox News, the former president’s chief spokesman claimed that he would be “returning to social media in probably about two or three months here.” Rumors have spread about Trump’s plan to gain a new outlet since his comments on the storming of the Capitol granted him permanent blocks from virtually every platform previously used for supporters and the general public.
According to the creators of Trump’s most frequented app, Twitter, his comments were viewed as using the app to “incite violence, among other things.”
The alleged tweet that was the final straw for Twitter creators claiming “encouragement towards violent acts,” was posted on January 9th, when Trump tweeted “To all those who asked, I will not be going to the inauguration on January 20th.”
After several months of election validity disputes from the former president, and members of the Republican party, multiple platforms decided that the information Trump was providing to the public was misleading, informative, and ultimately too dangerous to display.
Some members of the riotous mob claimed to be committing acts of violence in a show of anger against Trump losing the contested but proven fair, presidential election results of 2020. Five people lost their lives throughout the attack. Two avid Trump supporters Benjamin Phillips, and Kevin Greeson, passed due to alleged medical conditions, Rosanne Boyland and capitol officer Brian Sicknick were killed by mob violence, and former veteran Ashli Babbitt was shot during an attempt to break down US Senate doors.
Florida House of Representatives member, Randy Fine, and Chairman of the Florida Republican Party, Joe Gruters, have been pressuring several social media platforms with an end to Florida governments supporting their services for those who banned Trump from usage. Despite this, no action has been taken to restore any of the formerly used accounts.
This new Trump platform is planning on “attracting tens of millions of people,” according to Miller. An aspiring opportunity for Trump to relay his opinions on the current administration as well as past actions made against him during his presidency. The former spokesman, Miller, has been the only member of Trump’s personal team to mention the decision, and didn’t provide details as to what kind of style the app would function as.
According to sources allegedly close to the former president’s personal team, he has been in conversation with various unnamed vendors who are open to partnering with Trump to create a space where him and his supporters can share their opinions and observations, uncensored and unregulated by disagreeing sources.
Although we are entitled to the freedom of speech as United States citizens under our Constitution, speech is limited when falling under categories of obscenity, fraud, and incitement. If a political figure is sharing false claims to the public, they’re going to be silenced, regardless of the platform being used.
