The Semi-Official Blog of Zack Hunt
Donald Trump can change the world with just one tweet.
Not for the good, mind you, but as President of the United States, Donald Trump can shake up the stock market, set off a diplomatic crisis, or potentially even start an armed conflict should a foreign enemy either misinterpret or simply not take kindly to something he tweets at 3 o’clock in the morning.
That’s a lot of power for just one Twitter account and it’s power Donald Trump has shown absolutely no interest in wielding responsibly.
You know what I’m talking about: the megalomaniacal harassment of anyone who dares to criticize him and the incitement of hatred towards those he considers his enemies. Something totally unacceptable for a normal Twitter user to do, but something which in the hands of a President takes on a whole new host of consequences as jobs are threatened, the economy is rattled, foreign policy is thrown into chaos, and Trump supporters are incited (and all but sanctioned) to carry on their czar’s campaign of terror.
No one is safe from his wrath, but the mainstream media – as we all know well – is often his target of choice for their refusal to serve as his personal propaganda wing.
For example, there’s his targeted harassment of the New York Times…
The failing @nytimes has been wrong about me from the very beginning. Said I would lose the primaries, then the general election. FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2017
Thr coverage about me in the @nytimes and the @washingtonpost gas been so false and angry that the times actually apologized to its…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2017
Somebody with aptitude and conviction should buy the FAKE NEWS and failing @nytimes and either run it correctly or let it fold with dignity!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017
And NBC…
No wonder the Today Show on biased @NBC is doing so badly compared to its glorious past. Little credibility!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2017
.@NBCNews is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2017
Totally biased @NBCNews went out of its way to say that the big announcement from Ford, G.M., Lockheed & others that jobs are coming back…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2017
And CNN…
Congratulations to @FoxNews for being number one in inauguration ratings. They were many times higher than FAKE NEWS @CNN – public is smart!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
.@CNN is in a total meltdown with their FAKE NEWS because their ratings are tanking since election and their credibility will soon be gone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2017
But individuals aren’t safe either, no matter how highly they’re thought of by their countrymen. That includes a Civil Rights icon Donald Trump used Twitter to publicly harass not once…
Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. I can use all the help I can get!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2017
But twice…
John Lewis said about my inauguration, "It will be the first one that I've missed." WRONG (or lie)! He boycotted Bush 43 also because he…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017
He’s also promoted hateful conduct against Mexicans…
Mexico has taken advantage of the U.S. for long enough. Massive trade deficits & little help on the very weak border must change, NOW!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2017
And Muslims…
Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world – a horrible mess!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017
Christians in the Middle-East have been executed in large numbers. We cannot allow this horror to continue!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017
And anyone in the “dishonest media” who dares criticize him or point out inaccuracies in his claims…
The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall (for sake of speed), will be paid back by Mexico later!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2017
The dishonest media likes saying that I am in Agreement with Julian Assange – wrong. I simply state what he states, it is for the people….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2017
And that was just this month.
Those handful of examples don’t even take into account the years she’s spent spewing vitriol via Twitter.
But his Twitter behavior matters now more than ever because he is the President of the United States. What he says matters because everyone from the loneliest internet troll to the most powerful foreign leader is waiting to respond to whatever he tweets out next. And with just a tweet, Donald Trump can incite hatred, harassment, and violence across the country and around the world.
With someone as unhinged, egotistical, and irresponsible as Donald Trump, unfettered access to Twitter is a recipe for catastrophe.
Which is why Twitter should immediately and without apology suspend Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account.
They could and should do so not simply for political reasons, but because Donald Trump is in direct violation of Twitter’s own terms of service. According to The Twitter Rules harassment and hateful conduct are grounds for suspending a user’s account. How do they define harassment and hateful conduct? See for yourself.
Donald Trump is unquestionably guilty of harassment and hateful conduct.
And, again, he’s done so repeatedly just this month.
One can only imagine what he capable of as his lust for power grows and potential foreign adversaries become increasingly wary of what spontaneous and disastrous action Trump could take next.
To be clear: this is not a matter of free speech.
As the leader of the free world, Donald Trump does not need Twitter to get his message to the people and the notion that Twitter offers him some unique and worthwhile ability to speak directly to the people unfiltered is absolutely absurd. He already can and does do that through traditional media
Moreover, Donald Trump could still get his thoughts out to the people via the official POTUS account, something that could – at least in theory – serve a sort of checks and balances function given its official capacity.
Though admittedly, given that it’s Donald Trump we’re talking about, that may just be wishful thinking.
Nevertheless, shutting down Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account is critical to reigning in the most recklessly irresponsible president in U.S. history. Doing so is not just the right thing to do given his violation of a clearly stated set of rules, it’s a matter of national security and national stability.
Ultimately, of course, this all comes down to a question of will.
Not on the part of Donald Trump and his advisers, but on that of Jack Dorsey and the decision makers at Twitter.
Put simply, Donald Trump is good for business…at least for Twitter.
Every time Trump tweets something ridiculous, offensive, or simply false, it becomes a major news story, driving people to Twitter to see the tweet for themselves, engage it, and then return over and over again to see what other people have said in response. In other words, Donald Trump provides Twitter with a mountain of free press and a constant tsunami of traffic.
More traffic equals more money.
In the past, Twitter has declared that abusive contact on their site “threatens human dignity, which we should all stand together to protect” and pointed out that their “hateful conduct policy prohibits specific conduct that targets people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease.”
I can think of few “better” examples of threatening the dignity of others than a President using his power to attack, harass, and denigrate people less powerful than himself – especially on the basis of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, or whatever else Donald Trump deems unacceptable about their identity.
Unfortunately, more recently, Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, has begun hedging on the issue when confronted about the role Twitter played in Trump’s election and continues to play as it enables his reign of unhinged tyranny. Speaking to the Code Conference in December, he said Twitter’s role is “complicated” and added…
We have a role and responsibility to make sure that people are seeing what they need to see and they can have easy conversations and really get to the truth, and that’s complicated.
But the thing is, it’s really not all the complicated.
Twitter is not the only source of news in the United States, much less the world.
If Donald Trump wants to get a message out to the American people, he has an entire stable of reporters in the White House press room waiting for him. Or could he could hold a live television broadcast from the Oval Office essentially whenever he likes. Losing his personal Twitter account would in no way bar Donald Trump from being able to speak to the American people.
Which is why contrary to Dorsey’s claim, this is a simple, straightforward affair.
Donald Trump is in clear violation of Twitter’s terms of service and should suffer the consequences just like any other Twitter user would.
Effective immediately – and for the good of the country – Twitter should suspend Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account and put an end to his reign of Twitter tyranny.
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