POLITICO Playbook: What the right gets wrong about Big Tech and the Capitol coup

[JonLP24]

1. The most important part of the equation is that, in the case of de-platforming President DONALD TRUMP, tech companies did the right thing in this instance, especially given the tense and dangerous situation that was unfolding at the Capitol.

After years of violations by Trump — especially on Twitter, but also on Facebook and YouTube — that were allowed due to his being “newsworthy” and followed by a weird and ineffective system of labeling, the companies moved quickly after weeks of fallacious election fraud claims escalated to incitement of violence. Along with child pornography and terrorism, this is among the brightest of red lines for these platforms and Trump clearly crossed it.

This was not a First Amendment issue as some like to claim, but a simple case of private companies not wanting to help along an insurrection. Trump deserved what he got and, frankly, his absence has lowered the twitchy and reactive temperature by a lot, at least online. Well done, tech.

2. And yet, while some have described Trump to be the digital arsonist in this case, I would posit that he was only following the rules set for him and it was entirely the fault of the tech companies for giving him the kind of latitude that allowed him to go that far. Like a parent who gives a child endless bowls of sugar and then wonders why their kid is batshit crazy, tech has pretended to be obtuse to the consequences of their products and the choices that have been made about them.

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/01/16/what-the-right-gets-wrong-about-big-tech-and-the-capitol-coup-491437