"Trump Out!" Twitter "Declaration of Exit" Ripples January 29, 17:52

Twitter is well established in Japan as a popular social media.

What if the account is suddenly suspended and unavailable one day?

In the United States, the incident in Washington, DC, has led to an unusual situation in which the president's account is permanently suspended.

The decision made by Twitter, which operates the service, has sparked a great deal of controversy involving the world as well as the United States.

(Los Angeles Bureau Reporter Fumio Sugaya International Department Reporter Sari Kajiwara)

Parliamentary invasion that shakes democracy

An intrusion incident that occurred on January 6 in the federal parliament in Washington, the capital of the United States.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump, who turned into a mob in response to the result of the presidential election last November, broke into the Capitol and lost five lives in the turmoil.

Mr. Trump himself attended the rally held before the incident and called for "We will not accept the loss. Let's head to the Capitol."

The turmoil in Congress, a symbol of democracy, shocked American society and criticized Mr. Trump for inciting violence.

Trump's account "permanent suspension"

As things became tense, Twitter suspended Mr. Trump's account.

Mr. Trump's post, which claimed that "the election was stolen. We know that the other party won," had a serious breach of regulation, and if the breach continues, the account will be forever. I warned you to stop.

After that, although the suspension was lifted, Twitter received a new post on the 8th and suspended Mr. Trump's account permanently.

Mr. Trump posted two tweets on this day.

From Twitter,

"75 million great patriots who voted for me. Your claim will not be insulted or mistreated in any way. "

"I will answer all the questions, but I will not attend the inauguration on January 20th."

Twitter said that he had examined the content of the post in detail, and pointed out that the call to "patriots" could be interpreted as expressing support for the occupation of the Capitol.

He also concluded that a post stating that he was absent from the inauguration "may support those who are attempting violence at the inauguration."

He also noted the spread of plans for new armed demonstrations, including a federal raid, and Mr. Trump's post could encourage criminal activity and violate company regulations to prevent beautification of violence. As a result, we decided to permanently suspend the account.

"Means of deterrence of violence?" Or "Seal of speech?"

Originally, Mr. Trump, who had been raising distrust of the existing media, used Twitter a lot.

The number of followers on the president's account, which has attracted worldwide attention, continued to increase, and the two were in a “win-win” relationship.

However, the decision was, so to speak, a “sentence” by Twitter, and Mr. Trump lost the means to send a message directly to more than 88 million followers.

Following the decision of Twitter, discussions involving not only the United States but also the world are taking place.

While there was an opinion that "it is unavoidable to prevent further violence", there were criticisms that it was "containment of freedom of speech" and that "the legal basis was unclear".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel cast a stone on the debate, saying "there is a problem with account suspension."

In Germany, the act of praising the Nazis is prohibited from the reflection of World War II, but the basis is the regulation by law.

Chancellor Merkel pointed out that regulation of speech should be based on law, not on the judgment of a single company.

In addition, the Washington Post, a leading American newspaper, commented in an editorial that "it may have been justified, but it was also arbitrary."

Social media companies should explain the criteria for restricting posts properly, and point out that when the time comes when Mr. Trump's risk is judged to be low, he should allow posting to resume. did.

How do intellectuals see this situation?

Professor Ronnel Andersen Jones of the University of Utah, who is familiar with the US Constitution, said there were no legal issues with this account suspension, but he also expressed concern.

Professor Jones

"I don't think it's a problem to suspend the president's account, because he has several other alternatives, such as the White House spokesman, and is the focus of the media around the world, but on Twitter and Facebook. I think it would be a problem if the person who holds such a great power and then the post is deleted is a person who does not have the power like Mr. Trump and has no other means of expression. "

What is speech in social media?

While users of social media such as Twitter and Facebook are now spreading all over the world, regulations such as fake news are becoming more serious, and regulations are being debated in each country.

In Japan, a study group of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications compiled a report last year, stating a response policy that "first of all, the voluntary measures of each company will be the basis, and the government will monitor them."

Associate Professor Naoto Ikukai of Toyo University, who is also a member of the study group, pointed out that discussions on how to regulate the enormous social media will become more active in the world as a result of "Mr. Trump's departure". I am.

Associate Professor

Ikukai "American IT companies are willing to innovate first and then deal with problems later, but the risks have become apparent in various ways over the past few years. Future services will be social order. We must think more about the impact

on the situation

than ever before. ”

“ We should always keep in mind the fact that the rules of cyberspace are decided and operated by a small number of businesses, not just the law. We need to rethink how democratic control over these companies should be and how we seek transparency. "

How do you face each other?

The “negative side” of social media

Social media that has been successful in business by being widely used by the general public and the "world's strongest authority", the president of the United States.

On the other hand, negative aspects such as the spread of fake news and postings that could disrupt society due to its great influence have also become apparent.

This “permanent suspension of the president's account” may be one of the consequences of the fact that society has not fully addressed these negative aspects.

What should speech be like on social media?

Only the issue of our important right to "freedom of speech and expression" requires broad and in-depth discussion.

Los Angeles Bureau Reporter

Fumio Sugaya

Joined in 2002

International Department Reporter

Sari Kajiwara

Joined in

2010

After working at the Osaka Bureau and the Ministry of Economic Affairs, he has been a member since 2020.