Social media giants have finally confronted Trump’s lies. But why wait until there was a riot in the Capitol?
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have locked Donald Trump’s social media accounts for two weeks, the rest of his presidency. In this crossposting from The Conversation, Timothy Graham argues that it’s a “major and irreversible step” the platforms should have taken sooner.
Amid the chaos in the US Capitol, stoked largely by rhetoric from President Donald Trump, Twitter has locked his account, with 88.7 million followers, for 12 hours.
Facebook and Instagram quickly followed suit, locking Trump’s accounts — with 35.2 million followers and 24.5 million, respectively — for at least two weeks, the remainder of his presidency. This ban was extended from 24 hours.
The locks are the latest effort by social media platforms to clamp down on Trump’s misinformation and baseless claims of election fraud.
