Twitter has flagged several messages from Donald Trump as misleading.

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Olivier DOULIERY / AFP

Dealing with Donald Trump's irascible behavior has not been easy in recent years for social networks, which have constantly had to juggle between the fight against disinformation and respect for freedom of expression.

The problem will obviously not disappear the day Donald Trump is no longer President of the United States.

But when he leaves the White House, the Republican billionaire will once again become a lambda litigant in the eyes of the United States, and a user like any other of Twitter, his favorite communication channel.

His tweets can now be completely "hidden"

He currently benefits from the exception granted to political leaders by the social network.

“Our approach to world leaders, candidates and public officials is based on the premise that people should be able to choose to see what their leaders say, with clear context,” a Twitter spokesperson explained.

This exception only applies to "incumbent leaders and candidates, not citizens once they no longer occupy these positions," added Twitter, also recalling that politicians were not above network laws in case of apology for terrorism or pedophilia, among others.

Clearly, where a user's false or threatening tweets could be deleted, those of the president - many - are simply hidden.

"Do not hesitate to ban it if necessary"

But when he becomes' Citizen Trump 'again,' if he continues to call for violence and break the rules, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and everyone else will have to take the issue seriously and not hesitate to ban it in when needed, ”comments Hany Farid, a social media specialist at UC Berkeley.

Twitter can in fact, if it deems it necessary, suspend an account permanently and prohibit the creation of new profiles in the event of serious and repeated infringements.

Donald Trump already complains regularly that networks, especially Twitter, “censor” his political camp and do not respect freedom of expression.

But such a bias has never been proven in practice, on the contrary, as shown by the ability of right-wing groups to mobilize crowds on platforms.

Above all, “people confuse the right to say things with the right to amplify them by speaking to more people.

Social networks are amplification, and it is not a fundamental right, ”analyzes the professor.

“When you create an account, you accept the rules of these private companies,” he continues.

"I don't see any Republican complaining about the ban on pornography on Facebook."

Platforms behave more and more like media

The president has made Twitter his platform of choice.

For a long time, it allowed him to speak directly to his supporters and his detractors, without filter ... Until the platforms did not have to crack down, under pressure from civil society.

But the lies and outbursts on subjects as serious as health, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, or on the anti-racism protests this summer, have broke the camel's back.

Donald Trump can no longer really go freewheeling on social networks, which behave more and more like the media, by making editorial decisions.

Several American channels have also interrupted Thursday evening the broadcast of a speech by the president, believing that he was making disinformation.

Twitter also masked a dozen of the President's posts this week, including videos, with the same mention: "Some or all of the content shared in this tweet is disputed and likely to be misleading about how to participate in an election ".

Warnings from Twitter, and similar ones from Facebook, did not, however, prevent the candidate's vituperations from translating into protests by Republican activists, even outside polling stations, from Arizona to Pennsylvania, to call for "Stop counting" or count only "the legal votes", to use Donald Trump's phrase.

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  • US presidential election

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