NYT Editorial Board Member Asks if Meta Wants to ‘Take Down the Country’ by Reinstating Trump

Former President Donald Trump could soon be returning to Facebook and Instagram as he runs for the White House again. On Wednesday, Facebook’s parent company Meta announced it would restore his accounts on Facebook and…

Bradley CortrightJan 26, 20233 min read

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Yes, Trump can be a jerk on social media and post or tweet comments that would leave the average person aghast. And he has been

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dabbling in conspiracy theories

on his Truth Social platform.

However, the notion Facebook is handing over the “keys” to American democracy by letting Trump post weird memes of his head photoshopped onto a boxer or hawk digital trading cards is ridiculous.

Social media companies did have the right to ban him, even if it was creepy.

But it is not as though his suspensions from the three social media platforms have isolated him and left him without a voice.

Instead, he started Truth Social, where his most ardent followers or journalists tend to screenshot his “truths” and post them on Twitter. He also would blast out long, essay-length email tirades before Truth Social existed.

Rather than defang Trump after Jan. 6, the decision to boot him from social media platforms probably prolonged his shelf life because it further cemented a view a cabal of powerful institutions was persecuting him for daring to challenge them.

The suspensions created an echo chamber wherein Trump supporters could see his posts without conservatives or liberals interacting to point out lies, conspiracy theories, or just bizarre statements. It may take more effort to see his posts, but now they do not need to worry about annoying pesky users disagreeing with them

And such echo chambers can only further lead our citizenry to believe vastly different ideas or concepts are true — making it harder for us to find unity or a common purpose.

People should be able to see clearly when Trump says parts of the Consitution should be terminated, and then tries to claim he did not. They should be able to see when he attacks or demeans people. They should also be able to see his posts about policy. And if he explicitly calls for his supporters to storm the Capitol, he should face consequences on the platforms.

But the fear-mongering about Trump getting back on major social media platforms is just silly.