Showing posts with label Showing posts with label Wednesday, February 3, 2021 Policy makers and opinion leaders increasingly distinguish between the desirability (or at least understandability) of major digital platforms blocking Donald Trump's accounts and the broader implications of private-sector regulators having such enormous power. It already came a bit of a surprise that German chancellor Angela Merkel, never one to like Trump's political positions and style, raised concerns over Twitter's decision to ban The Donald (for my position on impeachment, seethis recent post). Last week, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in a German-language op-ed that it might have been "tempting" for Twitter to block Trump's account, but such a far-reaching restriction of the right to free speech shouldn't be decided by companies: the framework must be set by lawmakers.