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Germany And France ‘Shocked’ Over Twitter Decision To Ban Trump
Nation & State ^ | 1-11-2021 | Tyler Durden

Posted on 01/11/2021 4:43:57 PM PST by blam

Germany and France are shocked over Twitter’s decision to permanently ban President Trump from the platform, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying through a spokesman that lawmakers should set rules governing free speech, not private technology companies.

“The chancellor sees the complete closing down of the account of an elected president as problematic,” said chief spokesman Steffen Siebert during a Berlin press conference, according to Bloomberg. Siebert added that rights like freedom of speech “can be interfered with, but by law and within the framework defined by the legislature — not according to a corporate decision.”

Meanwhile, French leaders are similarly outraged – with Junior Minister for European Union Affairs, Clement Beaune, saying he was “shocked” that a private company made such an important decision.

“This should be decided by citizens, not by a CEO,” Beaune told Bloomberg TV in a Monday interview, adding “There needs to be public regulation of big online platforms.”

Earlier, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, said that the state should be responsible for regulations, not “the digital oligarchy,” adding that big tech is “one of the threats” to democracy.

Europe is increasingly pushing back against the growing influence of big technology companies. The EU is currently in the process of setting up regulation that could give the bloc power to split up platforms if they don’t comply with rules.

Twitter permanently banned Trump last week after it decided the outgoing president’s tweets breached its rules against gloriyfing violence. It cited his posts on the riots in the U.S. capital.

The move followed similar action by Facebook. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said Trump’s most recent posts showed he intended to use his remaining time in office to undermine a peaceful and lawful transition of power. –Bloomberg

(snip)

(Excerpt) Read more at nationandstate.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: france; germany; trump; twitter
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1 posted on 01/11/2021 4:43:57 PM PST by blam
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To: blam

Good.


2 posted on 01/11/2021 4:44:58 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
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To: blam

Yes, wait until it happens to Frau Merkel.


3 posted on 01/11/2021 4:45:01 PM PST by Lysandru
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To: blam

If big tech can shut down a sitting US president they can sure shut down Merrile and Macron. Maybe they are not like it where this coup is going (even if they had a hand in it) and what it means for themselves.


4 posted on 01/11/2021 4:46:21 PM PST by wildcard_redneck ( COVID lockdowns is are the Establishment's attack on the middle class and our Republic)
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To: blam

Torn on this.

It seems to upshot here is that governments should control these platforms and not private companies.

But as we all know, the lines between private companies and government get more blurred with each passing day.


5 posted on 01/11/2021 4:46:27 PM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: blam
If big tech can shut down a sitting US president they can sure shut down Merkel and Macron. Maybe they are not like it where this coup is going (even if they had a hand in it) and what it means for themselves.

(fixed Merkel's name)

6 posted on 01/11/2021 4:48:25 PM PST by wildcard_redneck ( COVID lockdowns is are the Establishment's attack on the middle class and our Republic)
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To: wildcard_redneck

Using a very creative interpretation of violence ! And while leaving up actual violent threats !!!

Is there not one honest democrat in congress?!?


7 posted on 01/11/2021 4:48:26 PM PST by Pikachu_Dad ("the media are selling you a line of soap)
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To: blam

I wonder if it would get it through the Twitter owner’s thick, partisan skull, if both Germany and France decided to suspend twitter in their countries for the time being?


8 posted on 01/11/2021 4:50:06 PM PST by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("All men and women were created by the, you know, you know, the thing." -- Joe Biden 3/3/20)
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To: Lysandru

What would be neat to see: an invasion of Menlo Park (Suckerberg) and San Fransicko (Jerk Dorsey) by Frau Merkel and German commandos. If they focused strictly on Fakebook and Twitter, I, for one, would applaud them!


9 posted on 01/11/2021 4:51:27 PM PST by A Formerly Proud Canadian (I once was blind but now I see... )
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To: A Formerly Proud Canadian

The Chinese will be storming the California beaches before that.


10 posted on 01/11/2021 4:54:01 PM PST by jersey117
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To: All

They are sad to lose such entertainment and must now go back to watching soccer and handball.


11 posted on 01/11/2021 4:56:08 PM PST by Peter ODonnell (Pray for health, economic recovery, and justice.)
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To: A Formerly Proud Canadian

They won’t need to invade Menlo Park, however entertaining that would be.

They’ll just fine them and block them for it, which will be much better...since they love those Euros even more


12 posted on 01/11/2021 4:58:47 PM PST by Regulator (It's Fraud, Jim)
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To: blam

They are also shocked at how widespread voter fraud is in American elections and the Democrats opposition to voter IDs but you wont’ read any of that in the US press.


13 posted on 01/11/2021 5:00:53 PM PST by a fool in paradise (Who built the cages, Joe?)
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To: wildcard_redneck
Honestly, this could be the end of the World Wide Web as we know it.

The internet as a unified network was done on American infrastructure, and everyone went along with it because the American government and telecoms were content to leave people alone to do their business as they saw fit.

The hysterics that Silicon Valley has shown and the fact that social media has blatantly been exposed as being a proxy arm of the American Intelligence Services, especially after the Arab Spring, has made a lot of people nervous.

We could very well see the internet fragment into segregated regional and national networks as a means of national security policy given how Silicon Valley is running amok.

14 posted on 01/11/2021 5:02:22 PM PST by Shadow44
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To: blam

When the Germans are shocked at something like this that tells you just how wrong fakebook and tweeter are....spelling intentional.


15 posted on 01/11/2021 5:02:45 PM PST by ealgeone
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To: blam
Secretly, they are like:


16 posted on 01/11/2021 5:12:06 PM PST by voicereason (The RNC is like the "one-night stand" you wish you could forget.)
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To: blam

One has a staged event in its history to justify targetting Jews. And the other has the storming of a political citadel as a national refrain. Macaroni and Snorkel


17 posted on 01/11/2021 5:13:09 PM PST by Long Jon No Silver
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To: Shadow44
"We could very well see the internet fragment into segregated regional and national networks as a means of national security policy given how Silicon Valley is running amok."

I agree with everything in your post. I find the portion that I excerpted above prophetic. I believe that the internet will fragment and that blocks of countries will start forcing traffic between these country blocks to be restricted and filtered.

18 posted on 01/11/2021 5:14:25 PM PST by wildcard_redneck ( COVID lockdowns is are the Establishment's attack on the middle class and our Republic)
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To: blam
Germany and France? The EU?
19 posted on 01/11/2021 5:16:53 PM PST by aspasia
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To: Shadow44

Some bad things, but also many good things could come out of decentralizing many areas of the web. Eg, google & twitter & FB finally either being split up in anti-Trust actions, and/or seeing the advent of thriving competitors to each of those monopolies.


20 posted on 01/11/2021 5:17:04 PM PST by CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC ("May You Live in Interesting Times": Ancient Chinese Curse. The Wuhanic Plague: Modern Chinese Curse)
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