On January 8th 2021, Twitter ultimately decided to pull the plug on former President, Donald Trump’s controversial Twitter account. With the objections not holding up to scrutiny, Twitter banning Trump was a justifiable decision because he was actively putting lives at risk with his tweets. 

The decision to ban Donald Trump on Twitter follows the storming of the United States Capitol that took place on January 6, 2021. Thousands of people raided the building, after much encouragement on Trump’s behalf. Tweets included Donald Trump explaining his love on Twitter for those who wanted to support him for the 2020 presidency. “We will never concede,” said Donald Trump. Trump expressed this on Twitter, referring to the election itself and ultimately prompting the raid. 

Trump’s use of Twitter to spread false claims of election interference ultimately led to the death of 5 people, including a cop. The outcome of the riots drastically have more repercussions and consequences than prohibiting Trump from using Twitter. Banning Trump from Twitter has made him stop spreading dangerous lies, with nonexistent downsides. Trump blasting various parties and people with no evidence is not an isolated incident. If Twitter had continued to allow him to have such a presence on the app, events similar to the storming of the Capitol could occur again with Trump continuing to bring about more violence. As proof of this, the FBI found evidence of many more attacks being planned but the combination of Trump’s twitter being offline and Parler being down prevented the would be attackers from organizing as effectively as they otherwise would have been able to. Responsible platforming from social media networks is critical to maintaining people’s safety.

In recent months, Trump has constantly lied about the election being stolen, via Twitter. Even after Joe Biden had been called as the 46th President of the United States, Donald Trump relentlessly has conjured up false theories surrounding his presidency and even attempted to rig the election. His removal off of Twitter has led to an unprecedented amount of silence from Trump, leading to people questioning the conspiracies he encourages them to believe. 

The social media platform was a space where he was able to share his thoughts with zero formal consequences and repercussions. The recent impeachment trial has revealed the crowds mercilessly breaking into the United States Capitol, putting countless people’s lives at risk. Seeing the extent of the riots and how detrimental they were, exponentially proves Twitter’s validity in banning him from Twitter. 

Some argue that this ban impedes Trump’s free speech. There is no truth in this claim, because Twitter is a private company and it reserves the right to control information spread on its platform. Free speech only prevents the government from shutting down your speech. Even someone who supports free speech as a principle that goes beyond the constitution or the law should be able to recognize its limits when people’s lives may be at stake. Trump is still free to express his ideas but the only difference is he lacks the megaphone he had before.

When there are so many negative disputes that Trump has partaken in and countless events that have jeopardized our country, it is clear that Twitter has made the right choice with restraining his voice.  Donald Trump has relentlessly harmed the reputation of our country and disrupted integrity that American politics has to benefit and further his own agenda and ego. Fortunately, Twitter has been proactive in removing him from their platform even if it was arguably a bit late.