Angela Merkel sees Twitter’s cancelling of Donald Trump as ‘problematic’

11 January 2021, 14:44

The deactivated Twitter account of President Donald Trump (Tali Arbel/AP)
Trump-Social-Media-Bans. Picture: PA

A spokesman for Germany’s Chancellor said freedom of opinion was of elementary significance.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel considers US President Donald Trump’s eviction from Twitter by the company “problematic”, her spokesman said.

Twitter permanently suspended Mr Trump from the microblogging platform on Friday, citing a “risk of further incitement of violence” in the wake of the storming of the US Capitol by supporters of the outgoing president.

Asked about Twitter’s decision, Mrs Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the operators of social media platforms “bear great responsibility for political communication not being poisoned by hatred, by lies and by incitement to violence”.

He said it is right not to “stand back” when such content is posted, for example by flagging it.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Donald Trump attend a commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day in 2018 with France's President Emmanuel Macron (Benoit Tessier/PA)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Donald Trump attend a commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day in 2018 with France’s President Emmanuel Macron (Benoit Tessier/PA)

But Mr Seibert also said that the freedom of opinion is a fundamental right of “elementary significance”.

“This fundamental right can be intervened in, but according to the law and within the framework defined by legislators — not according to a decision by the management of social media platforms,” he told reporters in Berlin.

“Seen from this angle, the Chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the US president have now been permanently blocked.”

Facebook on Thursday suspended Mr Trump’s account through to January 20, the day of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, and possibly indefinitely.

Mrs Merkel herself does not have a Twitter account, although Mr Seibert does and many German government ministers do.

By Press Association

More Technology News

See more More Technology News

A laptop

Millions of older people being cut off by lack of basic internet skills – Age UK

A computer screen

Leading AI figures awarded honours

AI warning

Essays written with ChatGPT feature repetition of words and ideas – study

A broadband router

Big four broadband firms beaten by smaller rivals in latest Which? survey

A person pressing on the Tik Tok logo on the screen of a smartphone

TikTok to launch online election centres to counter misinformation

A person using a laptop

Up to eight million UK jobs at risk from AI, report says

Smartphone showing apps

One in six adolescents have experienced cyberbullying, global study finds

An Uber Eats driver

Uber Eats driver wins payout over discriminatory facial recognition checks

Rishi Sunak visits Cumbria

Sunak says UK ‘more robust’ on China than most allies

Chinese President state visit – Preparations

Minister calls China ‘security threat’ after UK and US blame Beijing for hacking

China

UK and US accuse China of ‘malicious’ global cyber attacks

A hand on a laptop

Tougher action needed to combat copycat banking websites, says Which?

Dowden

Dowden guarantees UK elections will be safe from Chinese cyber attacks

A woman’s hand pressing a key of a laptop keyboard

Cyber security agency says China behind ‘malicious’ cyber attacks on UK

A young girl uses the TikTok app on a smartphone

TikTok Youth Council holds first meetings on better online safety for teenagers

Margrethe Vestager

EU opens competition investigations into Apple, Google and Meta