If anyone would know what living under a real authoritarian system is like, Navalny would
Top Putin Rival, Russian Dissident Alexei Navalny: Trump Twitter Ban ‘Unacceptable’
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny – one of President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent foes who nearly died last year of suspected poisoning by the state – called Twitter’s decision to ban President Donald Trump permanently on Saturday “an unacceptable act of censorship.â€
Navalny, the leader of the opposition Progress Party and a longtime protest organizer calling for the end of Putin’s rule, compared Twitter’s censorship of Trump to Putin’s censorship of himself and noted that “cold-blooded murderers†like Putin and Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro continue to use the platform without restrictions.
After years of advocating for a democratic transition out of former KGB agent Putin’s over-two-decade-long rule, Navalny is now currently in Germany, recovering from what German doctors believe is deliberate exposure to Novichok. Novichok is a chemical weapon almost exclusively used by the Russian government. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement in Navalny’s illness, which put him in a coma for weeks in August.
Here’s his thread
1. I think that the ban of Donald Trump on Twitter is an unacceptable act of censorship (THREAD)
2. Of course, during his time in the office, Trump has been writing and saying very irresponsible things. And paid for it by not getting re-elected for a second term.
3. The election is a straightforward and competitive process. You can participate in it, you can appeal against the results, they’re being monitored by millions of people. The ban on Twitter is a decision of people we don’t know in accordance with a procedure we don’t know.
4. In my opinion, the decision to ban Trump was based on emotions and personal political preferences.
5. Don’t tell me he was banned for violating Twitter rules. I get death threats here every day for many years, and Twitter doesn’t ban anyone (not that I ask for it).
6. Among the people who have Twitter accounts are cold-blooded murderers (Putin or Maduro) and liars and thieves (Medvedev). For many years, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have been used as a base for Putin’s “troll factory” and similar groups from other authoritarian countries
7. Those who denied COVID-19 exist freely and communicate on Twitter. Their words have cost thousands of lives. And yet, it was Trump who got banned publicly and ostentatiously. Such selectivity indicates that this was an act of censorship.
It is censorship. Just not one that is restricted by the Constitution. It’s basically when an authority suppresses communications.
10. This precedent will be exploited by the enemies of freedom of speech around the world. In Russia as well. Every time when they need to silence someone, they will say: ‘this is just common practice, even Trump got blocked on Twitter’.
And you can bet Russia, China, and others will demand that certain people/groups get banned by Twitter. As some have noted, Twitter hasn’t banned Iranian leaders, who call for death to Israel and America. Violent Antifa groups are all over Twitter, and do not get banned.
This tweet didn't age well. https://t.co/TJ4paEPUcd
— Dana Pico (@Dana_TFSJ) January 10, 2021
And, of course, since Twitter did this to Trump, and seems to be wacking Conservatives left and right, they are leaving for other platforms. As you probably know, Apple and Google kicked Parler’s app off their app stores, and now Amazon will boot Parler off of their web hosting by 11:59pm Sunday because Parler won’t institute massive censorship schemes (it’s not a very good site, to be honest. Like using a pre-beta test design). Gab is gaining around 10,000 per hour (it looks too much like Facebook-lite in design for me), so, you can bet Gab will be on the hit list for app stores if it makes it that far (nope, no app at moment).
So I take it that the Big Tech gurus currently trying to eliminate Parler now agree that platforms are responsible for all of the user content that appears on their sites? Noted.
— Jazz Shaw (@JazzShaw) January 9, 2021
It is an excellent point. The question now is “will there be lawsuits?” Further, will you get a Section 230 repeal? I’m really loathe to go after Twitter, and of course, Facebook would be included, plus smaller outlets, over making them responsible for the content of their users. But, they have now set the stage.
Read: Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Trashes Twitter’s Trump Ban »