Musk Claims Latest Twitter Files Show ‘Activist Employees’ Deplatformed Trump Days After Jan. 6 Even Though ‘He Didn’t Violate The Rules’
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Elon Musk celebrated the latest installment of the so-called ‘Twitter Files’ for purportedly showing that Donald Trump was banned from Twitter even though the social media platform’s top brass could not state a clear justification to do so.
Bari Weiss published a thread containing the 5th installment of the ‘Twitter Files’ on Monday, which focused on deliberations at Twitter about permanently banning Trump in the aftermath of January 6th. At issue were Trump’s final 2 tweets before he was forced off of the platform until Musk reinstated him only weeks ago.
In one of her tweets, Weiss flagged internal conversations where Twitter officials grappled with the implications of censoring a world leader on social media.
While Twitter employees mounted pressure to pull the plug on Trump’s account, the platform’s other staff cast doubt on the idea that his latest tweets met Twitter’s standards for incitement of violence.
Even after Trump’s tweets were found to not be in violation of Twitter’s policies, the pressure to ban him kept surging as employees argued that the sum total of his tweets represented the glorification and incitement of violence.
This eventually led to a Twitter executives meeting where tensions continued to flare, and shortly thereafter, Trump’s account was locked.
For reference, here is the statement Twitter gave on January 8th after banning Trump’s account:
Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks.
After assessing the language in these Tweets against our Glorification of Violence policy, we have determined that these Tweets are in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy and the user @realDonaldTrump should be immediately permanently suspended from the service.
In her thread, Weiss noted that other world leaders have run afoul of Twitter’s policies regarding incitement of violence, but did not have their accounts suspended. As such, Musk celebrated her latest contribution to the ‘Twitter Files’ by offering his summary of the contents.
“Under pressure from hundreds of activist employees, Twitter deplatforms Trump, a sitting US President, even though they themselves acknowledge that he didn’t violate the rules,” Musk said.
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