ACLU supports extradition of Donald Trump to Twitter after Elon Musk

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The American Civil Liberties Union said on Tuesday that Twitter should allow former President Donald Trump’s return to the social media site and support billionaire – and Twitter owner – Elon Musk’s argument to restore Mr Trump’s access. .

The left-leaning ACLU is among the former president’s most staunch legal opponents, but has criticized social media platforms that permanently banned Mr Trump after questioning the 2020 election results and the January 6 attack on the Capitol. After Mr. Musk launched the idea on Tuesday, the ACLU gave full-fledged approval to restore Mr. Trump’s Twitter presence.

“You’re going to have a hard time finding a more determined opponent to Trump and his policies than the ACLU, but Elon Musk’s decision to re-platform President Trump is the right one,” said ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero. an idiom. “When a handful of people have so much power over the most important forums for political speech, they should use that power with restraint.”

Mr Romero said Twitter should impose “less penalties” against Mr Trump for any future Twitter violations, such as removing a post by the former president that broke the rules. On January 9, 2021, three days after the melee on Capitol Hill, the company permanently blocked Mr Trump from its site, citing the “risk of inciting further violence”.

Trying to raise the $44 billion needed to buy Twitter, Mr. Musk said on Tuesday that he thought it was wrong to permanently ban Trump and other users, and that he thought the best solution would be to use temporary restrictions.

“I think the answer is I’m going to reverse the permanent ban. Frankly, I don’t own Twitter yet, so this is definitely not something that will happen.” “Because what if I don’t own Twitter? But my opinion – and [former CEO] Jack Dorsey, I want to be clear, shares this view – we shouldn’t have permanent bans. ”


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Mr Musk said on Twitter that unsubstantiated accounts still need to be in danger of being removed, and that the platform must comply with the disclosure and abuse laws of various countries.

The ACLU has previously criticized social media platforms’ restrictions on Mr Trump’s social media accounts, but Twitter’s message about the ban has gone from sympathetic to confrontational.

Last year, ACLU senior legislative adviser Kate Ruane issued a statement saying she understands the ACLU’s desire to permanently suspend social media platforms, but that people should be worried that tech companies using uncontrolled force could one day turn on their opponents as well.

“President Trump may turn to the press team or Fox News to communicate with the public, but others – like many Black, Brown and LGBTQ activists who are censored by social media companies – will not have that luxury,” Ms Ruane said. It was said in January 2021.

Mr Romero’s statement on Tuesday was particularly less relevant to the opinions of opponents of free, unregulated speech online.

“Like it or not, President Trump is one of the most important political figures in this country and the public has a great interest in hearing him speak,” said Mr. Romero. “Indeed, some of Trump’s most offensive tweets have become critical evidence in lawsuits against him and his administration. And we should know – we’ve had over 400 legal cases against him.”

While Mr Musk and the ACLU support a path for Mr Trump’s return, the former president may not use the platform again if the opportunity is given. Mr Trump told Fox News last month that he would not be returning to Twitter and would instead stay on his platform, Truth Social.



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