This isn't a debate of ideas or words anymore. One side went full kinetic against the government, with the intention of preventing the democratic transition of power to the Biden administration.
Enabling sedition has real consequences now, and it is in the best interest of the shareholders of any corporation to defend the government which provides legal and institutional legitimacy to your enterprise. That's why CEOs are making this calculation, not because they are being influenced by liberal employees. There is zero guarantee that the "MAGA Republic" would continue to let Facebook or Twitter continue to operate.
In 2017 a leftist gunman (2016 presidential campaign volunteer) shot up a group of federal Republican legislators, hitting one in a ten minute gun battle with Capitol police. Hitting only one wasn’t a failure of intent but of the gunman’s skills.
I’m not linking the events, but considering that a literal (not hyperbolic) deliberate mass assassination attempt was carried out on Republican congressional leaders in 2017, isn’t it a bit disingenuous to say that “one side went full kinetic”.
The difference is in the reaction. Bernie Sanders and other members of the progressive caucus immediately condemned the lone wolf attack in very clear terms. The reaction of the president to the Wednesday attack was far different and will likely encourage future acts of violence.
Twitter didn't ban Bernie Sanders because he 1) never encouraged the attack and 2) responded appropriately. Twitter banned Trump because he played a part in encouraging the attack and then didn't genuinely condemn the attacks. That's why these two scenarios are very different.
There are many reasons the scenarios are different. I’m calling out the fallacy in saying “one side went full kinetic”. This point has nothing to do with Twitter. This is about violent rhetoric leading to violent action, and a false supposition that “one side” in this has no history of violent political action (e.g. clean hands) in comparison to the other.
> One side went full kinetic against the government, with the intention of preventing the democratic transition of power to the Biden administration.
Please. They were a bunch of bafoons who got too far because the law enforcement was not staffed enough at the area.
All I'm seeing is a bunch of private companies doing a job that should be up to law enforcement. The idiots successfully turned around a widespread condemnation and political suicide of Trump into a debate on their power.
Enabling sedition has real consequences now, and it is in the best interest of the shareholders of any corporation to defend the government which provides legal and institutional legitimacy to your enterprise. That's why CEOs are making this calculation, not because they are being influenced by liberal employees. There is zero guarantee that the "MAGA Republic" would continue to let Facebook or Twitter continue to operate.