Steven Miller advises, trump spews the lies.
Remember this stuff?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHusZDjesr4&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR3ZNQbE0exPCDlPHS-pWBwzLZtumfeYoedDDxxQcCJ8V9Jx4zPDGsp2DDA
2
The ruling apparently means no federal office holder, including representatives or senators, who maintain social media sites that accept comments can prevent political opponents from posting their views on the sites.
The Washington Post is now reporting that “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is facing two federal lawsuits for blocking Twitter users who were critical of her or her policies.”
These lawsuits were filed by Republican political candidates, but White Nationalist presumedly could promote their views on AOC’s Tweeter account.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/10/ocasio-cortez-faces-lawsuits-blocking-twitter-critics-after-appeals-court-ruling-trump/?utm_term=.1813a7a7bf38
is the most stupid thing to do
The best way to silence the monster in the White House is to impeach him, convict him and then ignore him.
2
Twitter is a childish form of communication, which is why I don't use it. In Trump's case, Twitter simply highlights his shocking immaturity, as well as his appalling lack of competence in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
A competent President uses the mass media to convey his message and policies. Trump rails against the mass media because it holds him accountable for every stupid action he takes. Network TV doesn't need to make fun of him. All they have to do is turn on the cameras, turn on the microphones, and point them at him. Without fail, he will say or do something racist, sexist, criminal, or ignorant within 30 seconds. And then he'll deny that he ever said it or did it...even when confronted with the videotaped proof.
Trump often claims that he shouts his Twitter messages to one of his secretaries, who then types it and posts it. This is a pathetic attempt at "plausible deniability" and "controlling the narrative." When his base loves his post, he takes full credit. When his base hates his post, he claims his secretary screwed up.
I've never seen a more pathetic human being in my life. Really, Mr. Trump--put down the phone and do some governing. Please?
4
Twitter is the cesspool of humanity. Period.
4
If there’s anything weaker that tweeting insults that you’re too afraid to say to someone’s face, it’s blocking anyone who criticizes you for it. I wish there were a stronger word to convey what a contemptible little coward Donald Trump is.
7
I don't use Twitter, precisely because I refuse to concede any of my time to listening to or reading that liar.
Donald John Trump is a relentless liar. It's ALL he ever does. It's done very deliberately. I can read all about it in the paper, but will NOT directly pay any attention.
He thinks that you, all of you, are too stupid to notice what he's doing to you. So far, that seems correct. Or something.
3
"Hell is other Tweeters."
Fine.
Unleash Hell and let those that oppose storm the barricades and bury him with non-stop critical Tweets.
2
Notice that Mr. Trump has invited Ben Garrison -- the anti-Semitic cartoonist who portrayed the Rothschilds controlling George Soros controlling H.R. McMaster -- to the White House for his right-wing social-media "free-speech" summit.
That's what it takes to get an invitation to the White House in Trump's America.
https://forward.com/fast-forward/427133/anti-semitic-cartoon-white-house-george-soros-trump/
3
The only remotely surprising part of this story is discovering that Trump bothers to read negative tweets about himself in the first place.
1
There is nothing of beauty, Art, or intelligence disseminated on Twitter. It is a cesspool, dominated by the juvenile, rude, and bigoted comments and misinformation of one particular jerk. I logged off years ago and am happy to not look back. Twitter IS an irrelevant forum.
1
Donald Trump. The man who would be dictator.
2
I'm hoping our next President will not use Twitter. I never look at Twitter, only when "lazy journalists" re-post Twitter comments.
As far as I can tell Twitter has no redeeming qualities and doesn't contribute anything positive to our society - except making the owners fabulously wealthy.
1
So, those of us in the Resistance who continuously diss the 21st century's biggest twit, Donald Trump, for continuously dissing us can now rejoice that Twitter can't block our condemnations. Big deal.
I don't even Tweet. Sure, thrash-Tweeting is a cool front-and-center way to pummel Twitter's most captive audience: putrid prez. But who needs it?
We've got the Comments section of The New York Times, not to mention 1000s of other platforms from which to punish the White House scourge.
2
Birds tweet.
2
It seems Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) blocks users in Twitter too. It seems that both AOC and The Donald like to block people who disagree with them but both must stop.
This all about to go down the rabbit-hole of what's becoming a sadder and sadder caricature of what had been one of our strengths...
Of course, I'm talking of the rule of law...
Twitter-blocking and Facebook-restricting are loose change compared to the conundrum on facial recognition...
What good is digital archiving – and, yes, analytics of – facial features and structure, if we're then going to pretend it's not there...
Especially if a few dozen countries and a few hundred large businesses fundamentally leverage it for future purposes, of all sorts...
And – understand that software that’ll shortly be gleaning 100X the insight from any of several clinical imaging technologies is categorically identical to this, in its data structures...
Mark Zuckerberg once – when he was trying to buy it – spoke of Twitter as a bunch of guys who drove a clown car into a gold mine, and fell in...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/zuckerberg-twitter_n_4256014
“...According to “Hatching Twitter,” a new book dissecting the history of the short-messaging site by the New York Times’ Nick Bilton...
Well, what we have here are a bunch of autonomous clown cars driving through the tribal turf of some very fearful – and, alternately, ornery – chimpanzees...
PS
Even if the chimps wanted to take videos of the trespassers, as evidence...
The windshields are tinted dark, and the license plates are cryptographically obfuscated...
2
So wait, I am confused.
The bigot-in-chief can still block someone if he doesn’t like what they have to tweet about him???
How then will this ruling be enforced???
Who does the ENFORCEMENT????
What nonsense.
1
Trump’s continued and inappropriate use of Twitter to disseminate his so-called presidential thoughts only proves no-one can stop him doing whatever he wants. All his tweeting does is demonstrate to the world his adolescent characteristics: 1) Impulsivity - he tweets whatever thought comes into his head without thinking of the potential consequences; 2) sensation seeking - he tweets provocative and bullying things because it is exciting to think that people are out there reacting to his comments he believes are brilliant, and 3) risk taking - he tweets comments guaranteed to rile other countries and push them towards conflict. Someone needs to put a child lock on his phone.
19
It seems if enough folks join twitter to counter Trump's megaphone on twitter and if they complain and comment extensively it might take away Trump's private megaphone. Trump should do news conferences like a normal president not attacking people , firing people and conducting foreign affairs by tweet 5 am in his bathrobe.
7
It is a broken system. It is acceptable to use social media to disseminate useful information about an established policy, but Twitter should not be used as a negotiation tool by government officials to create policy. Governing and campaigning should not be combined on social media accounts. The president addresses Americans with clearly biased proposals, deliberately creating conflict among citizens to strengthen his political support. We elect officials to resolve these issues, not to drag the country (and the world) into conflict.
President Trump lies and disseminates misleading information to the citizens he was elected to serve. He is an elected official (not a private citizen!) and in this role must be held accountable for providing facts. Given his behavior, the president should be banned from Twitter. He is misusing both the social media platform and the power of his office. He is using Twitter to manipulate, not communicate with, his audience.
3
"Fair enough, but what if tomorrow, Twitter's chief executive, Jack Dorsey, were to tell Mr. Trump to get lost?"
Well, go ahead, Mr. Dorsey. I'm quite sure citizen Trump "clicked" on the same user agreement protocol when he originated his account as every other Twitter user does. Even people with normal, functional attention spans don't actually read these agreements. Mr. Dorsey is in the driver's seat.
4
Our president is the master of self-promotion and of bending rules in self-interest. Twitter is the perfect platform for those unburdened by ethical behavior. It is a responsibility-free zone.
I am not sure that the transitional generation will resolve freedom of speech versus the havoc caused by social media. Listening to younger people, I am hopeful that generations born into the digital age will figure it out. They care deeply about environmental and social issues and value collaboration more than their parents.
2
"The lawyer added, ' I am doing my absolute best to figure out what is going on.' "
Unfortunately, so is President Trump.
2
The shame of it all is that we have a President who has the attention span of a 280 character gnat...
What's really hilarious is that he's holding some social media summit to echo his silly views that Twitter and Facebook are impeding the conservative view. Did any of these Republican wizards ever stop to think that the majority of the folks wearing MAGA hats only watch Fox News and have very little use for the Internet or a smartphone? Tough to gain followers when there's no 'follow' or 'like' button on the TV remote...
3
Eighty characters of which, on average, he misspells and misunderstands.
The Illegitimate One is first and foremost and entertainer. He caters to a crude audience, of course, but they consider him entertaining.
Twitter is part of his entertainment shtick.
Entertainment is the ONLY thing he's good at -- if you call misleading millions of angry Americans while entertaining them "good".
3
The president is never going to give up the white house voluntarily, even if he loses the 2020 election. People will say that's not possible because the Constitution being what it is he would have to move out. Oh yeah. He has more lawyers for every eventuality.
Let's suppose he does lose the electoral vote. He will 1) demand a national recount, 2) appeal to the supreme court with bogus evidence the election was rigged. and 3) while awaiting the Supreme court's decision (keep in mind the court's conservative members and an Attorney General, who has linked up with all the other sycophants and
cronies to insure the president is president in perpetuity) with other means of delaying his leaving the white house.
And if he should win in 2020 he will turn his attention to repealing the 22nd amendment restricting a president to two terms in office. The Republicans control 37 State legislatures and the battle cry in the Senate will be to give them the 67 Senate seats to finish off the repeal. The 2020 election just may wind up being a vote for turning the U.S into an "authoritarian theocracy."
Who knows: if he sticks around long enough he may nationalize Twitter and Facebook so he doesn't have to hear
any criticism from anyone, anymore.
3
For all that Mr. Trump remains the flagship Twitter user, his adolescent tweets are only the tip of the iceberg. It is hard to think of a development so double-edged as social media since the creation of the atom bomb. Both promise enormous value to humanity but also create situations fraught with destructive energy. It is unfortunate that we cannot place the same controls on the destructive side of social media that we have so far managed to create for atomic power. One could destroy the world and the other is on the way toward destroying our political system and heavily damaging our social relations.
3
I find it amazing that this country is being run by a mad man and that so many people support this guy. What are they putting in the drinking water to cause this to happen.???????
4
This ruling makes a lot of sense (although I am not sure what rationale they used for it). After all the last thing elected officials should have is a bully pulpit!
Here’s an idea...why doesn’t a rich billionaire or two get together and do us all a favor - do an LBO of Twitter, take it private, and either kick Trump off the platform or even better close it down altogether. It may be a huge money loser for them but the best philanthropic gesture this country has ever seen!
71
@RSL As of today's close, Twitter's market cap is around $29 billion -- seemingly well within acquisition range of one of Trump's favorite tweet targets, Jeff Bezos. It would be the richest of ironies for him to acquire it, take it private, and boot its most infamous (ab)user -- and in the process infuriate Trump's acolytes, but hey, luckily for us they already despise him!
2
Without Twitter, Mr President would have to find some other way to pleasure himself. I'm sure he can come up with something.
2
@Bradley Bleck; magazines? rolled up that is.
A rattle perhaps.
2
Is that a little tweety bird in Trumpty's mouth?
Or is he undergoing an exorcism?
4
Where would we be able to get the most information from Trump, whether it's ridiculous or not? He reveals information about himself, his putative policies, his hatred of others in just a few characters. He's "baring" his soul for all to see. The fact that he believes that Twitter is a legitimate type of communication/conversation means he doesn't have the disposition to talk to anyone face to face anyway. Just think about the meetings at the WH with Pelosi and Schumer. The man can not, literally, think on his feet when he gets angry. I am sure those Twitter rants are basically written or thought out ahead of time (even though his spelling is atrocious). Let him have Twitter. That's all he's really got, nothing of substance.
2
Here’s a thought: close your Twitter account.
It’s the easiest platform to lose.
Twitter and Trump are quite sure that you won’t.
4
Twitter doesn't amplify more than the other social media sites; the media does by lazily going to the Twitter well whenever they need a story, or want "man on the street" takes without having to actually go out onto the street.
3
I prefer not to use social media because they own your identity. However, I am also forbidden from using social media. I was kicked off Facebook and Twitter for posting nothing offensive. I was not provided with any explanation from Twitter and a facetious explanation from Facebook. Trump blocked me early on when I was on Twitter, in 2015, for asking him about basic income of all things. Twitter is complicit in the new rise of fascism.
7
"Many employees at Twitter have told me there is a red line that Mr. Trump could cross that would sink him." Ordinary Twitter employees will have no effect in taming the Trump tweets. That will only happen if Jack Dorsey is replaced as CEO because of his pusillanimity and enablement of Trump.
1
As with all other tools of technology, Twitter is what you make it.
People who form words of value (i.e., those with brains) make Twitter a useful forum for the exchange of ideas and point-counterpoint.
Conversely, those without brains [see Trump] make Twitter a child's toy in an adult's hands, like one of those little-tot radios that get screechy when the volume is too high.
2
What Trump did to his Justice Department lawyer constitutes grounds for impeachment. Repeatedly blindsiding employees who are just trying to do their jobs should classify as a misdemeanor high enough to justify impeachment. I do not think the founders meant the word in its legal sense of a crime less than a felony; repeatedly going up to the edge of legal misdemeanors without crossing the boundary would itself be a misdemeanor in the broader sense the founders meant. Otherwise, a president would have a map of what he could get away with to violate the spirit of our laws.
1
I have never used twitter, never will.
It is not a vehicle for conversation but for snipers.
Greed obviously motivates twitter to keep trump's account active.
If everyone ignored trump's tweets, he would soon stop. A good place to start is in the media then we would only have FOX talking about them.
7
Sorry, but the line under the headline ... "A court ruling that the president can’t block critics means the platform is even less likely to boot him for breaking its rules." ... strikes me as just bizarre.
Is there even the most remote chance that Twitter - or any other social media company - would actually boot the President of the United States (no matter who it was) off its platform? Seriously?
2
Because the President is a monarch not a citizen?
Trump breaks the user agreement regularly.
Many have complained.
Twitter is fully aware of the situation.
They have no excuse to not enforce their community guidelines.
177
I sincerely hope the Democratic nominee will call Trump out on his un-presidential use of Twitter. It should really be prohibited as a medium of official discourse. And of course, there should be a pledge by anyone running for high office not to use the platform for official business.
131
@Henry Crawford - Bah, he's been called out to the point that no one cares.
The positive side is that the majority have gotten bored with Trump's tweets.
I do think Twitter should have banned him long ago.
10
I have been blocked from the political campaign Facebook pages of two Indiana politicians. In one instance, I challenged a state senator (Andy Zay) for an MLK Day post because he had previously said that racism doesn't exist and that white men face the most discrimination. In the other instance, state attorney general Curtis Hill blocked everyone challenging his treatment of Keith Cooper, a man wrongfully convicted of armed robbery.
I hope the court's ruling becomes the standard nationally and in every state.
277
Twitter is good in an emergency. It provided information during the short lived Egyptian "revolution" 2011. It can be used today during emergencies like forest fires etc. But Trump has defiled it.
His tweets should not be official policy. Every word from his stupid brain to his uncontrolled mouth and fingers should not become policy. Policy should be written down and signed in the real world. He is now getting his way with the census question because of a tweet contradicting policy.
3
Jf Trump ends up with a presidential library, what will be in it other than his Twitter rants and a couple of fast food menus.
5
"The Doctrine of Fascism"by Benito Mussolini.
He's our favorite president … He says it himself! (Repeatedly … "That I can tell you.")
But I 'say' that trump is my favorite president 'like' the "Dred Scott Decision" was the shining moment of SCOTUS-PAST (and not a 'Ghost' more 'morbid' than anything even the SCOTUS-PRESENT majority of "'Catholic", "Conservative", 'Neanderthals' might ever concoct).
1
Pull the plug on The Don Con’s Tweeter access.
1
Really? Trump is hosting a bunch of strippers at his Doral Golf Club??? Is this how low we have fallen? Please. Someone (hello Pelosi!) do something about this insanity!!!
2
Goodness! I can't believe it, but I forgot to look at Twitter for the last 13 years! What will ever become of me?
6
))<~>((
But do we ever know the source of a Trump tweet? Remember when this happened "John Dowd, an attorney for President Donald Trump, is claiming that he wrote the president’s tweet on Saturday in which he said he fired ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn for lying to Vice President Mike Pence and to the FBI". Could we please get Dowd under oath to figure out who really wrote that tweet?
3
Trump, the man who would be King. Thanks Putin.
4
And the millions of intellectually bereft Americans who live at exactly the Twitter level of nuanced thought.
1
Twitter is the dinner table. Trump is everyone's hateful and racist grandfather.
2
Question for Jack Dorsey: Will ex-prez Trump’s account be suspended or blocked in 2020?
2
I pity US Americans.
4
Tweeting is for twits. Just say No.
1
To that Bewildered Justice Department lawyer who is doing his Best to Figure Out What is Going On: give it up, dude. You do not have a snowball chance in Hell figuring out what trump is doing. He doesn't know what he is doing.
3
"Hell is other tweeters."
I hate Twitter for the very reason the president loves it. It's instant gratification for impulsive personalities who can't wait to express their emotions, no matter how sick, sordid, or stupid.
Can you imagine a Twitter user editing his or her message, or even just "sitting on" it for a few hours to make sure it's appropriate?
No, it's the immediacy of it all that gratifies the user but often shocks the reader. Twitter is to thinking what "grab and go" sandwiches are to appetite: quick, easy, and convenient even if the contents don't taste as good as expected.
Child psychologists say how long a kid can put off an instinct determines is or her level of maturity. I think we know where the president stands on that scale.
5
The Washington Post is now reporting that “Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is facing two federal lawsuits for blocking Twitter users who were critical of her or her policies.”
These lawsuits were filed by Republican political candidates, but White Nationalist presumedly could promote their views on AOC’s Tweeter account.
A lot of politicians are going to be forced to abandon interactive social media unless they are willing to to allow their accounts to be platforms for opposing views.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/10/ocasio-cortez-faces-lawsuits-blocking-twitter-critics-after-appeals-court-ruling-trump/?utm_term=.1813a7a7bf38
Trump, president of the Kingdom of Twitter.
Here, though, not really anything but an immature, inept, unethical, and dysfunctional moron. I would be willing to bet good money that the UK isn't the only country that has ambassadors with the same opinion.
2
Trump has been governing via twitter. The most recent example being his reversal on the citizenship question in the census forms. This caught his own JD lawyers by surprise.
I am sure George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are rolling in their graves wondering why they had to give long speeches and engage in lengthy debates to win an argument or convince people about their policy positions. Both the American Revolutionary War and the Civil War could have been won with a series of short tweets.
GW tweets, "Never met a sillier person than a Brit who walks on the wrong side of the road." The English leave our shores and we become free.
AL tweets, "The Southerners can go to hell and join Mexico; I'll build a wall along the Mason-Dixon line." No sooner this tweet is sent out, they capitulate and America is united like before.
Never underestimate the power of a tweet.
3
Free speech for me, but not for thee.
Fool.
2
Birds, including the Twitter bird, by their nature spread their excrement indiscriminately. A newspaper, used properly, can protect us from both the avian and the asinine.
3
Dave Barry once said, "The reason people hold business meetings is because they can't masturbate in public."
Substitute Twitter for meetings, and his observation is even more on target.
I don't use Twitter and have no plans to. What a waste of time. Apparently NBA superstar Kawhi Leonard agrees - another NY Times story mentions that he has had an account since 2015, but has used it only four times. He didn't even announce his recent signing with the L.A. Clippers with a tweet.
There is a saying: "Better to remain silent and thought a fool than to open one's mouth and confirm it." Food for thought...
3
A fascinating take on the public/state Twitter account and a private account. I do wish there were a few more statistics in this article. Especially about how many of the alleged followers are real and how many are fake. It would put 45's Twitter account into perspective. Also if the media would stop writing about the tweets, they would become like trees falling in a forest - unheard.
2
Twitter's effect on our politics and society as a whole is awful.
If there is any redeeming quality to the platform, it is grossly outweighed by the negatives.
It shortens people's attention spans and draws them away from real news, it doesn't allow space for the development of a well-reasoned or nuanced argument, it encourages and rewards outrageous statements, it is susceptible to manipulation, it gives a few individuals an out-sized influence on the whole... I could go on.
I may just be an old dinosaur lamenting the passing of my time, but I wish it had never been invented.
5
I have always found the very word "tweet" from its earliest inception to be embarrassingly childish and intellectually vacant. Its connotation is that of the short 'sweet' chirp you might hear from a small bird. When this president governs, attacks, lies and insults with his 280 character tweets, it his insecure little "bird-like brain" we are hearing. The only difference is that his chirps are rarely 'sweet' and are at times dangerous as they are heard and left to be interpreted around the globe far beyond the branches of a bucolic bird in a tree in springtime. I'll take the sweet sounds of a small bird in nature any day to the disturbing barrage of Trumpian tweets that daily assault our weary collective minds.
However, he has effectively monopolized the national conversation with his tweets, not just on the actual Twitter site but also on their repetition on cable t.v., social media and the press every single day since he assumed office. In the process, he has diminished the dignity of diplomacy, the distinction between what is true or false and the very deterioration of the English language.
Is there no escape or has Twitter now become the new and lazily accepted norm for what was once was serious communication and dialogue in governance? If so, give Trump his own "special access" to the medium where he would be required to tweet in more than 1,000 characters. It would be a great test for him to coherently showcase the "super genius" he claims to be to the world.
3
Trump will also, when he leaves the White House (hopefully in Jan 2021) tweet about his greatness, about how awfully his successor is doing, and about what he would have done (always something great) if he was still in the WH. At that point, the media will have a big decision about how to proceed. Will they follow the clicks and keep breathlessly responding to his every outrageous tweet? Will they tone down the attention? The more they do the latter, the more outrageous he will become.
Attention and power are addictive, but certainly no other POTUS in my lifetime has had such a need for attention. Donald Trump will have an exceedingly hard time letting go of that - especially if he runs for another term and loses. He will not willingly let the nation move on. Will the Media? Will we?
107
@Anne-Marie Hislop
Yes, we will all happily move on.
In the immortal words of Elaine Benes: YADA YADA YADA.
That's what we will all hear from his blathering lips.
22
@Butterfly
Hopefully. That said, there is something addictive about his outrageousness, the conversation piece of 'did you hear what he said NOW,' and the anger he generates. The last, anger, is particularly addictive. It will, for many, be very tempting, especially if your next POTUS (and admin) is boringly adult and normal.
8
@Anne-Marie Hislop
I think it's safe to say we all yearn for adult and boring.
I'll be very happy reading about his exploits when he's OUT of office in January 2021.
Actually I'm hoping to read about his exploits in prison shortly thereafter. LOL
27
As usual, people have not thought this out. If anybody can post anything there (within the decency limits imposed by Twitter) then the flood gates are open for posting lists of politician peccadilloes, details of financial shenanigans, and even transcripts of clandestine recordings. And since all Presidential communications must be preserved, these will be dutifully archived. Forever.
Trump may actually have done us a favor.
61
I honestly can't understand how anyone is still on this awful platform, there are virtually no redeeming qualities anymore as it has been fully taken over by the quacks, while the algorithm is just not tailored to the user's interests, but Twitter's. A world without Twitter would be a better one. People need to be forced to think before they "share".
7
If Twitter were held to the same standards we are trying to impose on Facebook and Google (among others), to unmask sickos spewing hate and intolerance and outright lies and insults, and even deny it's bully pulpit to the "Alex Joneses" of this world, some respect and a sense of justice in Twitter's platform would be applauded. In brief, not even a president ought to be above the law...and be allowed to constantly trample on the truth. Is this too much to ask, see a return of our freedom...while banning the license to deceive, and build facts out of thin air? Shouldn't we call out an individual that calls 'Twitter' and other 'legit' News Media 'the enemy of the people', for the defects he himself is so well endowed with?
Power does not work in a vacuum (republicans are propping up this President) and neither does ''free speech''. The media (even on the so called left, or main stream of the spectrum) repeat constantly over and over every little utterance.
Of course with all of those utterances, 140/280 characters, and 5000+ (and counting) ''falsehoods'' (verifiable) the megaphone is the media - NOT the medium.
His ''base'' is a sliver of a sliver of a sliver of the actual electorate (100,000,000 that sit out any given election including those that would never vote republican) yet, it has outsize influence.
All that has to happen is for that 100,000,000 to wake up and be inspired to vote on election day.
Then the President would indeed be talking in a vacuum.
2
I'm waiting for US courts to come to their senses and decree, belatedly, that Twitter tweets have no legal authority of any kind in any venue. They are not documents, they are not policy (formal or otherwise), they cannot be understood as orders (legal or otherwise), they have and can have no force in law. Any more than sky-writing or graffiti on public restroom toilet stalls. A threatening tweet might well merit further investigation to see if there's anything behind it, but the tweet itself should by definition be ruled "not a credible threat".
What a relief it would be if the automatic answer to the question, about a tweet, "What does it mean?" would be "Mean? It don't mean nothin'."
4
Power does not work in a vacuum (republicans are propping up this President) and neither does ''free speech''. The media (even on the so called left, or main stream of the spectrum) repeat constantly over and over every little utterance.
Of course with all of those utterances, 140/280 characters, and 5000+ (and counting) lies (verifiable) the megaphone is the media - NOT the medium.
His ''base'' is a sliver of a sliver of a sliver of the actual electorate (100,000,000 that sit out any given election including those that would never vote republican) yet, just like a certain firearm group, it has outsize influence.
Just like flooding said firearm group with memberships, and then voting from within for change, that 100 million could do the same on election day.
Then the President would indeed be talking in a vacuum.
1
“The tweet this morning was the first I had heard of the president’s position on this issue.” The lawyer in charge of the citizenship question on the ballots had no idea what the "boss" wanted until he read it on Twitter. Suppose Trump wanted to start a nuclear war. Would he tell his generals to do that on Twitter?
Too often Twitter is a place to hide like a mole or a gopher. One pops up quickly to spiel out some bile and then ducks back into one's hole. It is a place to hide insecurity not as a medium for human communication.
Trump and Twitter fit like a hand and glove. He is an insecure pathological narcissist who avoids controversy like he avoids germs. He wants praise on a public stage and not face any sort of controversy. He fired Comey and Tillerson on Twitter, not face-to-face like a man with a spine. He expects his staff to know what he wants and follow it without question even if they hear about it first on Twitter. Real disagreements with Trump risk violent temper tantrums rather than discussion.
The question in this column, "How would he even govern?" [without Twitter], is key and frightening. He has no real line of communication with key advisers like the Joint Chiefs of Staff or, say, Congress. So his Cabinet goes off and plays and the country sinks deeper into the muck.
Actually it is hard to describe what Trump does as "governing".
3
I think Twitter is culpable for the creation of this political monster and for the degradation of our democracy. They are also directly profiting from the petulant and childish behavior of our so-called "leader". I live in the Bay Area and I despise the fact that Twitter is my neighbor, but I'm also looking forward to the day, and it will come, when that company goes the way of Webvan, GeoCities and AltaVista.
1
A further reflection on why to not bother following Trump on Twitter: Anything of his worth considering will be quoted in the NYTimes.
That makes this once much vaunted organization an extension of Twitter. Shame, really; some time -- like many decades -- ago, it was the most respected of US newspapers. Now?
New slogan: "All the Twitter posts we see fit to print."
1
Don't do Twitter. Never will.
Perhaps if everyone boycotted the social media platforms - since they all seem to get most of their business through dispersal of propaganda - perhaps this country could get back on an even keel.
Remember when there was a big stink about terrorists using the internet and the "dark" web to promulgate their operations? Why is there not now a similar outcry to rein in all of the other manipulators?
I understand the right to free speech. I also understand that I have the right to not be subjected to it.
2
I detest the dysfunctional, co-dependent relationship between Trump and Twitter (if only they could quit each other...), and find it unconscionable that Trump uses his personal account, accessed via unsecured mobile devices, for official government purposes.
It's small consolation that Trump might be even MORE insufferable if he didn't have this outlet to vent his rage.
3
Trump can't block users, and Twitter can't block Trump.
A little sour with the sweet.
For my part I'm less concerned about Trump's tweets (I don't follow him - easy solution), and more concerned that he can send emails to me even though I've never subscribed to a single .gov website.
How do you unsub from a NSA list?
1
First time I've considered getting a twitter account. If he is president of all the people, then he should want to hear from all the people.
3
Nothing normal about this "unhinged" administration with their driveway press conferences and big orange screaming over the sound of a helicopter in the background or his use of twitter to influence govt. policy or intimidate and shame people... NOTHING.
1
Power does not work in a vacuum (republicans are propping up this President) and neither does ''free speech''. The media (even on the so called left, or main stream of the spectrum) repeat constantly over and over every little utterance.
Of course with all of those utterances, 140/280 characters, and 5000+ (and counting) ''falsehoods'' (verifiable) the megaphone is the media - NOT the medium.
His ''base'' is a sliver of a sliver of a sliver of the actual electorate (100,000,000 that sit out any given election including those that would never vote republican) yet, just like a certain firearm group, it has outsize influence.
Just like flooding said firearm group with memberships, and then voting from within for change, that 100 million could do the same on election day.
Then the President would indeed be talking in a vacuum.
1
Power does not work in a vacuum (republicans are propping up this President) and neither does ''free speech''. The media (even on the soc called left, or main stream of the spectrum) repeat constantly over and over every little utterance.
Of course with all of those utterances, 140/280 characters, and 5000+ (and counting) lies (verifiable) the megaphone is the media - NOT the medium.
His ''base'' is a sliver of a sliver of a sliver of the actual electorate (100,000,000 that sit out any given election including those that would never vote republican) yet, just like the NRA, it has outsize influence.
Just like flooding said NRA with memberships, and then voting from within for change, that 100 million could do the same on election.
Then the President would indeed be talking in a vacuum.
1
I have a twitter account but have never used it I'm not quite sure how. The only time I hear that Trump has "tweeted" something is when it is in the news. So, at least for me and I'm sure a lot of other folks we would never hear about it if the media didn't report it. From what I've seen reported of Trumps "tweets" he has just shown his ignorance. I'd make a bet (cash money) that the people that that are calling to have him blocked from tweeting are not his political opponents but members of his administration that have to deal with all the "kerfluffles" that his tweets have caused. Besides, the liability that his tweets have caused is just too good for his political opponents to object to. What you have to realize about this president is that he does not want to represent all of the American people ( from the indigenous to the naturalized, all the races, and the diversity that is the true strength of our country is the American people). When he tweets it is only to his base (the narrow minded, bigoted, Archie Bunker on steroids minority of American people that is his base) not to we the people or his fellow Americans.
1
I was not enthusiastic when I signed up for Twitter and the next
day they emailed me that my account may have been hacked so I deleted my account and never went back. DT and AOC use it to express their opinions and they are in my opinion just egotistical in your face politicians who comes from opposite ends of the political spectrum, neither of opinions I care to hear about.
1
Why does Twitter allow Trump's account to persist? Simple... free advertising. The word "Twitter" appears 20 times in this article alone (not to mention the 39 times it's already in comments, including mine, and which will only grow from there). And this article is hardly alone. Unfortunately, all that coverage only makes removing Trump's account that much more unlikely.
1
Can I ask a question? How would the government enforce this? Who is going to go check and see that Trump has in fact unblocked people or that he does not regularly block and unblock people? I just think this ruling is more for show as its hard to enforce it, also what would be the penalty for violating this? Who or what is going to be done if Trump continues to block people? I think its more of a ruling to show hes not above the law but the lack of enforcement will only make him feel that he is in fact above the law.
And I understand we are in a weird world where this is a conversation at all, but for the sake of that massive discussion lets focus on the fact that this ruling cannot be enforced truly and not that the POTUS is a petulant child who uses the tactic that if he closes his eyes the world stop..or in this stance if he blocks the truth out, it will some how sees to exist.
Can someone not take legal action against Twitter for not enforcing its own rules against Trump?
Twitter would never boot Trump in a million years anyway. He is single handedly keeping their business afloat! The whole platform has just be come pro and anti Trump opportunists and outrage peddlers.
Where is the border between newsworthy comments-usually designed to get a rise out of someone-and libelous ones? Many things Trump tweets are falsehoods, falsehoods which he must be aware of unless he is psychotic or unbelievably credulous.
If he could make more money off Facebook than Twitter, he’d switch in a second.
1
@Phil M is right - the Trump presidential museum will be illustrated by a scrolling LED Twitter feed, but the Twitter display will be posted on a recreated wall of a child migrants' center - in freezing temperature - with the permeating odor of unwashed and unchanged babies - with a 'pantry' display of dry ramen and oatmeal packets - and filled with the terrified cries of children begging to see their parents again.
For the crimes he's already committed, and for those lurking in the shallow recesses of his restless thumbs, end this now before gerrymandering, voter suppression, and enemy of state interference take away our ability to take back our country: vote Democratic in 2020.
3
Trump Governance by Twitter lis an insult to every American. Trump's jingoism ihas deconstructed our alliances and standing in the world. His day of reckoning is 3d November 2020. Please vote.
1
Personally, I think Twitter should either enforce its rules equally for all participants, or just not have any rules.
On the other hand, Trump's mutterings and ravings on Twitter illuminate the dark corners of his vile little mind. You know who you're dealing with.
2
This news is almost enough to get me to learn how to use Twitter--just to be able to counter Donald's asinine rants and lies. But I'd have to trade in my dumb phone for a "smart" one. Guess I'll go back to shooing the neighbor kids off my lawn.
His attacks on the press... Why is the press so thin skinned? They seem to dish it out daily while hiding behind Democrats. The press deserves the spotlight Trump puts on them.
@TL I know right? Like the way they always seem to report exactly what he says and then they report that he said the exact opposite and then they show us that he did say the exact opposite of what he just said by playing the video of it. I hate the press. Reporting exactly what he said and did. I'm going back to Fox now. They will tell me what he meant to say. They always seem to know. Good journalism!
4
I am hoping that the Democratic Candidates do not fall into the Donald's trap. Ignore his taunts. Stick to issues.
1
Twitter allows the Violater-In-Chief to remain a user because it is good for business. And that is bad for America.
Twitter and djt were made for each other. Wonder what he would do without them. Notice that all his (unpresidential) name calling reflect what and who he really is by describing himself. May they live unhappily after.
1
The answer is not to block Twitter. The answer is for those of us who are disgusted with Trump to let him, and his followers, know that— loudly, obnoxiously, unrelentingly— on Twitter. Especially by mocking our Dear Leader. That is what he hates most. Let them know what pathetic fools we think they are.
This decision is just what’s needed. He can’t block us. Can he stand us?
4
Am I to believe the POTUS appreciated the significance of the First Amendment? Hardly ... he just wanted to stifle criticism.
1
Trump did say at one point how he loves the uneducated. His "communicating through twitter" proves that.
Republicanism is the problem. Trump is pointing that out.
I'm a 74 year old millenial (at heart) - a lifelong liberal. We liberals have always had the answer to making America great, but few listen to us and Republican's are constantly labeling their opponents - the republican light - Democrats, as liberals.
I'm talking economics - not all the race/sex issues - which are also all about vile Christian republicanism. I'm talking about the reason why we have 500 billionaires and 500,000 homeless.
It's REPUBLICANISM. Kill it!
3
Well well! Trump, caught with his pants down again!
The wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow...and fine.
1
The good thing is that I can still get on there and post a snarky comment that no ones sees. Lots of amusing ones there, 90% of which are critical to the creature.
This form of condensed , one way, non developmental writing is the symbol of a world of speed and no thinking and no accountability.
Americans have brought that to the world : fast food , bad TV, reality TV, fake news, industrial pornography worth more money than cinema, telegraphic writing , automatic weapons in every home, etc...
All good stuff .
As one commenter wrote about an article on democracy, the USA constantly prove they are far superior.
Trump makes me wish Twitter had never been developed.
I quit Twitter long ago, but anything negative you can say about it, you're saying about humanity itself. Which doesn't make what you say incorrect, unless you blame the medium and not the humans.
poor donnie, being a bully is a tough job.
And here I thought it was our dear, departed Barack Obama, the Scion of the Teleprompter, all-around good guy, who fathered-forth fine presidential Twitter doings.
LIttle did Obama realize the undoings of these caws today, no longer sweet tweets. Today the Twitter words are rife with four-letters.
We need a politician who can sing sweet words again, preferably one who can sing them umprompered. Bill Clinton could. Ronald Reagan could. JFK could.
Any good Tweeters out there with the common good song?
1
As long as snarling and snarky Donald Trump,Sr believes that tweeting and speaking nicknames and slurs while watching Fox News and playing golf is fighting to MAGA the American people will always know what is on his ' mind'.
Imagine if smiling and smirking Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin were President of the United States. Putin sends his foes to hospitals, mental institutions. prisons, urns and coffins without any social media hint of whose time is up and why.
2
People still use Twitter? I thought that was just a bot farm.
It would be a grave mistake to throw Donny off Twitter.
How else would we monitor the baby?
1
What a glorious thought: Trump banned from Twitter. Please, oh please let it happen! It would be like stuffing an old sock in his mouth. He would be outraged with nowhere to express it without helicopter blades running in the background. Do it! Just do it!
1
So now the presidency is on the same level as a Kardashian. What a country.
3
Jack Dorsey for Nobel Peace Prize. If he enforces Twitter terms of service.
“Karma is not just analog.” Priceless statement!
Trump has sent the “goes around”, but can he handle the “comes around”?
I’ve never used social media. Keeping up with FB and Twitter would waste too much of my time (retired... I read... a lot). At least, I didn’t get snookered by Russians, et al., or aggravated by the hateful trolls. So, I’m looking forward to news reports about Trump’s Twitter wars and meltdowns.
Fun times ahead.
Our POTUS will never stop tweeting
Anymore than a lamb will stop bleating
He tweets fake news and lies
Sundown to sunrise
To govern this way? Self-defeating!
My question is why the media is so in love with using Twitter. Its ultra short message format imposes the opposite of thoughtful journalistic writing. I’m living very happily having nothing to do with Twitter. Same for other social media platforms as well. Trump only has impact on Twitter because the media eats up the content. Doesn’t that make the media complicit and an enabler of bad behavior?
3
If you read the comments on Trump's tweets, they are just too perfectly adoring. I think he has fake accounts doing this. Others have been banned from Twitter for the same.
1
This just in, kids: private companies are under no obligation whatsoever to broadcast this (or any other) Administration’s bellowings, except maybe in cases of genuine national emergency.
And that goes about quadruple for tech companies, which as far as I know have no FCC regs whatsoever, and do not have broadcast licenses.
People need to stop ranting as though Washington had been on Facebook...
Rules don't apply to powerful people.
People like our President, Donald Trump, or billionaire Jeffery Epstein for example.
In this country, the more power you have, the less you are held accountable for any abuse of it. It's a lesson that people like Brett Kavanuagh, etc., learn from an early age - that there will be no reckoning for people of wealth and privilege.
Their parents teach them this. Their schools teach them this. Their friends teach them this. Their jobs teach them this. Our society teaches them this. And the way our law is administered teaches them this.
No wonder they're so surprised, as Paul Manafort and Roger Stone were, when this innate sense of immunity, which was so carefully developed and nurtured over the years, is violated.
Usually by someone so beneath their position - a prosecutor, an under-age girl, the House of Representatives, etc. - that, for them, it is worthy of unbridled disdain.
"The very idea!", they all say. And why wouldn't they? After all, it's all they've ever known.
8
Even if Twitter were to properly enforce its own rules and close the @realDonaldTrump account, Trump has another account available to him because he’s the president - the POTUS account.
Closing an individual’s account for repeated rules violations is one thing, but closing the POTUS account is a different story. The POTUS account belongs to the office of the presidency and therefore belongs to the citizens of the US, not the individual currently holding that office. Trump merely has use of it because he’s the president - it’s not “his” account.
Trump’s use of that account would no doubt be at least as egregious as his use of his personal account, but closing the POTUS account would set a very dangerous precedent about a corporation’s ability to muzzle the communication ability of a president regarding any subject the corporation found objectionable.
1
Please show me where any law or regulation says Twitter must maintain a government account.
1
@George Shaeffer
Trump’s Twitter account is a personal account. If it was an “official” government account it would be @USAPOTUS, or some other such nonsense.
Though the real issue is whether it's Twitter.gov or Twitter.com, nonetheless, I'd like to see that: Twitter shutting off its revenue--closing down Trump's account for "rules" violations.
Now, watching that go to the Supreme Court would be worth the price of admission.
But need to drag Facebook along for stomping First Amendment rights, too.
How unusual, Twitter and Facebook products of Lenin's Bay Area.
4
I expect that it’ll be difficult to explain to right-wingers that no, you do not have an unlimited right to spray racist drivel and calls for violence all over the public sphere, but I do still find it odd to have to try and explain to the laissez-faire capitalism types that a private company is not subject to the First Amendment and has no Constitutional obligation whatsoever to provide morons (or anybody else) with a megaphone.
1
First: "The lawyer added, “I am doing my absolute best to figure out what is going on.
So are the rest of us."
Best line I've read today.
Second:
"A bewildered Justice Department lawyer tried his best to explain the bizarre situation to the judge presiding over the case..."
Oh, I can help with that. The situation is that trump is contemptuous of the rule of law and the constitution for that matter. After all, the law is black and white - but only for the lower rungs of society. For the top 1% the law is 'complicated' or 'not clear on this' or 'harmful to the public good if enforced'.
That's why people like Epstein walk, whilst others would fry. That's why Pelosi et al don't understand the need for impeachment proceedings. 'So what if trump committed crimes? All that matters is if we can return to our jobs of power and prestige in 2020, pretending to represent the plebs.'
No need for bewilderment - it's all clear as day.
20
@Mike Bonnell
You nailed it.
An October 2018 analysis by SparkToro of Trump's Twitter followers estimated 61% are fake and 35% meet the profile of spam accounts. This is important information Kara. Writing that Trump has 62 million followers, without contextualizing that number, is deeply misleading, particularly because you use that 62 million number as evidence of the account's significance to Trump's governing style.
16
@Jim
Even with 100 followers I suspect the court ruling, and Twitter's decision to maintain the account, would be the same.
6
@Jim
Wouldn't it be fun if 20 million anti-Trumpers joined his twitter account and held him responsible for all his lies, racism, misogynism, etc.? He wouldn't be talking to a hostile press, he would be talking to and getting responses from hostile citizens.
2
@ExPatMX It would be even more fun if U.S. voters in the 2020 election hold him accountable for the terrible job he's been doing, and demand better from future elected leadership.
8
Doesn't this decision have drastic ramifications for the differentiation between public and private spaces? Aren't they declaring that Twitter is now a public space, legally speaking? You can't ban people from a public space, as Twitter has done recently with many conservatives and anti-SJWs.
It doesn't seem that people are taking the externalities of this bizarre decision into account.
2
@AJ, I was under the impression that it's more a matter of him being a political figure rather than a private citizen on Twitter. A normal person can block others, Trump represents the State.
10
@AJ It’s not a public space, Trump is a public official tweeting in an official capacity. That can’t be blocked.
4
If it’s not a public space, public officials haven’t any rights to it.
140 characters is perfect flint for the conflagration that Trump aims to start in the dry tinder of American anxiety, fear and loathing.
That was about 140 characters.
3
@Kalidan
It is a nice image too.
1
@Kalidan
Isn't it up to 250 characters now because of him?
1
Yeah, but no American was complaining about Twitter (and Facebook and Instagram etc. etc.) when their country was still the indisputable superpower and the economy was still good enough to keep electing "centrist" presidents.
It's all fun and games... until someone loses an eye.
3
@VK
I expect to lose an eye on this one, but I'd gladly go back to three (and PBS) networks, three National newpapers of record, a good enough local paper, analog equipment and centrist leadership.
10
@VK
No American was complaining? Do you know me? I dont know who you are. Do you know all of my family, friends, and coworkers? No you don’t. Plenty of us complained about those platforms and plenty of us are not users of any of those platforms. General blanket stereotyping is always wrong.
2
@VK - yes we were... but more as a mindless time-suck. Now it’s a hateful, mindless time-suck.
Now I will still be able to follow the Twitter account that is devoted to retweeting comments from those who regret they voted for Trump.
The reasons they regret voting for him (and why they refuse to vote for him in 2020) runs the full gamut across all views, and sometimes the distance between these voters' mindsets is staggering.
An anecdotal and unscientific social polling method for sure, but very educational for me.
1
His use of Twitter is genius. Why would he talk to a hostile press who are completely beholden to the far-left Democrats? His approval rating is at an all-time high by the way.
1
@M Never hit 50% and it's an "all time high?" That's actually pretty bad. Obama hit 69%, G.W. Bush hit 90% back in 2001 and Clinton his 73% in Dec 1998. This man has a long way to go, and I doubt he'll get close.
14
@M "His approval rating is at an all-time high by the way."
Er . . . FAKE NEWS! (to coin a phrase.)
1
@M
Why would someone who fundamentally believed that the press was profoundly hostile and misleading towards an individual they supported bother to read/post in that medium? Wouldn't it make more sense to join with him on Twitter?
I deleted both my Twitter and Facebook accounts about a year ago. I found myself getting so worked up and shocked at some of the vitriol coming from some people. I haven’t missed either one bit.
I think social media is single handily responsible for the great divide this country is now experiencing. The question is, can we ever go back to semi civility and semi unity?
40
@Tam. I read WAPO and NYT on line, but I miss things, nonetheless. Facebook fills in some of those gaps and leads me to other news sites I wouldn’t otherwise see. My Facebook friends post serious news and analysis, uplifting messages and some very funny stuff. It also gives me some local news that I no longer have a daily newspaper to read. I don’t spend a lot of time on Facebook and don’t go there at all some days. I stopped using it for a while and discovered that I was getting a lot of good from it. I think it depends a lot on how you use it and who your friends are whether you find it helpful.
@Tam The thing you want to go back to is called blissful ignorance.
2
This ruling will not be enforced. It is empty, as are most court rulings in the Trump era. Dictators don’t listen to courts. And Dorsey doesn’t care. He is just counting his money.
13
If the courts were to apply this rule even-handedly, that would mean that Cong. Ocasio-Cortez can no longer block her critics on Twitter. Of course, what we are more likely to see is a special rule for Trump, one that doesn't apply to anyone else. That's pretty much how the courts have treated Trump so this is unlikely to be any different.
7
All sorts of things apply only to the President no matter who it is. It’s the law
@Douglas
Thank you for opening my eyes. I'm so anti-Twitter as a useful method for serious interaction among thinking folks, I didn't consider the possibility of wasting more time posting negative critiques for politicians.
Come to think of it: There are so many that I detest: I might not have any waking hours for, say, breakfast.
Nah, I'll stay away. Except for the more vicious and radical candidates that deserve my vitriol. Kamala Harris springs to mind.
I am guilty of being one of the 62 million who follow the President, but I only do so to read the comments to his Tweets. It is reassuring to me that so many are in complete disagreement with him. I would say that half of those who follow him are not "followers" of his ideology at all and that 90% of the comments for any given tweet are simply rage tweeting with creative meme's and calls for resignation.
18
@Dr Cherie. You don't have to follow him. I blocked him and then just view his tweets by hitting the 'view the tweets' on his blocked page. That way, you don't give him numbers because you aren't following....
9
@Dr Cherie Good point often missed, his followers. 62 million, is worldwide. World leaders & their staffing, journalists, military (he does do orders on Tw.) federal staffing, Vlad, etc.
1
Twitter is the perfect medium for doing away with nuance, complexity, reflection and sustained attention. In the hands of users like Donald Trump, it is like the insistent flickering of a short-circuited emergency light, producing an infinite series of immediate alarms and signifying little more than mental decline and mass hysteria.
156
@Eric Caine Brilliant!
2
And also a platform that doesn’t require Trump to spell or use proper English. Both of which seem very challenging for him.
4
As Nancy Pelosi wisely pointed out, Twitter does not reflect the real world. It reflects the positions of a few atteention seekers who enjoy being even more provocative and controversial so as to increase the number of "likes" and retweets they get.
The fact that so many reporters practice Lazy Journalism 101 by turning to Twitter for reactions to stories and positioning tweets as "what people are saying" (rather than "what a few overly needy attention seekers on Twitter are saying" is what gives the platform its power. But Twitter + 24/7 news cycle will go down in history as the reason for the Great Incivility happening in American politics right now.
326
@ALW515
Actually, when all is finally written about this era I think you'll find Rupert Murdoch at the head of the spear. With Ronald Reagan vying for the same spot.
45
@ ALW515... Amen! Twitter is the scourge of our society and a big part of why the left and the right can not compromise on anything. It provides a platform for internet "tough guys and gals" to shout their tribal feelings without ever having to actually engage the other side in real life. It's real life interactions where you realize the other person is not a monster and has good qualities, only this realization allows you to find common ground on otherwise ideological issues. Unfortunately, I only see this issue getting worse as younger generations grow up on this and other social media platforms and don't know any better. Hopefully the next major innovation in this medium improves the level of discourse in some way.
22
@ALW515 . Note for Nancy. Twitter is much more real world than your country club Congressional pals who depend on cash from those seeking favors.
3
Twitter has become a cheap propaganda megaphone for Trump where his lies can be pumped out to millions of Americans without penalty of need for fact checking. Democracy can only thrive if facts matter. Twitter unfortunately is structured such that it is easily abused.
At least the court rulings have created a small hole into Trump's propaganda apparatus where a small ray of sunshine may penetrate to the benefit of those who are interested to see. I am afraid that this will only make a small difference as Trump will find ways to drown the truth and the voices of reason by pumping out more trash.
92
@Konrad Gelbke
Yes.
Essentially it is impossible to make a detailed argument in 280 characters, so the reasoned arguments are easily replaced by propaganda, which loves brevity.
You cannot successfully govern a country of 325 million with pithy slogans alone.
Watch Chernobyl to see what happens when you give your country over to those that think lies are better than truth when trying to govern.
14
@Konrad Gelbke Twitter is, of course, Trump's personal megaphone which he uses to react to things mostly on Fox News. With the combined media powerhouses of Twitter, Facebook and Fox News, Trump has more than enough means to drown the truth and voices of reason.
If he wins in Nov 2020, American democracy is finished. He will overwhelm the rest of the media and he will eviscerate the Congress and the Supreme Court. The FBI will become the Gestapo(or KGB) and the Dept of Justice will become completely politicized.
6
@Konrad Gelbke
It would be perfect to have all Trump's Twitter statements fact checked and then remove all the ones that are dishonest. We could cut down on the nonsense being spread.
Requiring him to tell the truth would also result in effectively banning Trump from Twitter.
8
It disgusts me that - even if he’s defying a court order - Twitter won’t even suspend Trump’s account. Why is he allowed to not only spread hate, insults, and disinformation, but to also defy legal decisions? (Why isn’t Twitter them called into court for being complicit for that matter?) The most anti-rule-of-law President ever!
54
Life is pretty boring for me. I am a geriatric who really cannot do much except watch my birds and mess with my computer. I have found a collection of all of Trumps Tweets and they provide me with a myriad of things to laugh at. I am not on twitter, so that they cannot kick me off, but I have never laughed so hard reading Trump's tweets and the responses. I am certainly glad the courts ruled in favor of the critics and not in Trump's favor.
23
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. will have a short life span. Something new comes along to distract the schizoid American brain. Trump will not adapt and become obsolete. Let's hope what replaces Twitter is less puerile. Not likely.
9
Given Twitter's habit of expelling conservatives, I wish it would do so for president Trump.
4
Twitter should have shut down Trump's account long ago. That it didn't is just one more example of how an American company puts profit over everything else.
My mother told me when I was a small child that the love of money is the root of all evil. In my sixty-six years on the planet, I've seen nothing to prove her wrong.
51
@Vesuviano
That's possibly because you live in the cowboy-capitalist, crony USA. It may not be true everywhere in the world.
1
I know there are millions (like me) who wouldn't look at twitter no matter what. It's remarkably simple to conclude that diverting your own precious time and attention is wasteful, just because someone somewhere has blabbered about something publicly.
If it's newsworthy, that's what newspapers are for.
9
@Dale M
There's a lot on Twitter besides just news. You can curate your own feed to see what you want. Want to look at pictures of cute animals? There are accounts devoted to cats, dogs, owls, bats, possums, alpacas, you name it. Accounts devoted to literature, to science fiction, to space exploration, and so on. One of my favorites puts up pictures and videos of Buster Keaton. Another is devoted to old Twilight Zone episodes.
Donnie had another Trumptastic day in court. Twitter creates more ill will in this Country than any other social media platform. It would be best for future Presidents to stay well away from the site, as all it does is enrage and divide.
10
No one has to read Trump's tweets. His hateful rantings do not have to be replayed, ad nauseam, on non FOX news stations. Why does the media keep aiding and abetting him by constantly focusing on him? Point out the results of his bumbling. Quit chasing him with a microphone hoping he will publicly apologize for his stupidity, greed or criminal behavior. That will never happen.
26
@Maureen Steffek
Maureen, there's a simple answer to your question. Trump is followed by the press because he happens to be the POTUS.
Dorsey doesn't want to lose the money that Trump brings him. Unfortunately, in a capitalist and open society, at least for now, that is what we get. I would be ok with Dorsey kicking Trump off but would the company survive without the legions of racists and sexists who use the platform that would likely leave? Or, would their addiction to making gutless claims online be too strong to stop using the platform?
4
Ms. Swisher, thanks for the wedding announcement of Donald Trump and Twitter. Isn't it horrid that our president has 62,000,000 followers on Twitter? That he uses that malign 21st Century social media platform for political purposes, foreign and domestic policies? Face it, Folks, the British Ambassador to the U.S., Sir Kim Darroch, was correct in his leaked assessment to his government that Trump is clumsy, inept, insecure and incompetent. As long as Twitter is considered an official news outlet in these trumpian times is as long as the travesty of democracy in favor of kakistocracy will last.
24
@Nan Socolow Careful Nan: It's Twitter terminology to call subscribers "followers" but follower does not mean "fans". Trust me, many of Trump's 62,000,000 followers are not fans. Heck, many of them are not even actual humans but rather they are computer generated accounts created to inflate follower numbers.
Many of his so called followers are fake or bots.
Shouldn’t using Twitter to break laws be against their terms of service?
Trump is breaking the law by blocking people, and harming our democracy.
Twitter should kick him off.
12
@Jane If he blocks everyone who disagrees with him he would have about 10 million followers, or less. Every tweet generates thousands of responses and they are almost entirely negative. Those people you see at the rallies don't appear to be on twitter.
2
It's hard to imagine any "red line" for Trump—
Because of the money/attention/traffic.
And Twitter can always say it's "newsworthy" because he is the president.
4
Twitter is just one way this demagogue keeps his followers in line. While praising the intelligence of the American electorate, Trump secretly knows that they can be led around like bulls with nose rings - only instead of bull rings, he uses their beliefs and prejudices to lead them wherever he wants.
If DJT doesn't destroy our fragile democracy, he has published the blueprint and playbook for some other demagogue to do it later. If a democracy like America's is going to exist, there will have to be a paradigm shift in human thought throughout the world.
In the near future, we will program the human mind in the computer based on a "survival" algorithm, which will provide irrefutable proof as to how we trick the mind with our ridiculous beliefs about what is supposed to survive - producing minds programmed de facto for destruction. These minds see the survival of a particular belief as more important than the survival of us all. When we understand all this, we will begin the long trek back to reason and sanity.
See RevolutionOfReason.com
3
Twitter is a dumpster fire.
I'm all about tech (I build my own Macs & PCs, own a digital design biz), but man, social media is a rabbit hole full of barbed wire with sewage at the bottom.
The fact that folks are so happily addicted to their daily "outrage" via Twitter, Facebook, instagram etc. just reveals how we truly are getting closer to the 2006 film Idiocracy.
Lack of critical thinking? Check. The media willingly enabling the worst facets of humanity, without taking any responsibility? Check.
Trump would be frothing at the mouth if no-one in the media paid any attention to his word-diarrhea, but here we are, watching them lap it up while he hugs the flag.
48
You live by “twitter”- you die by “twitter- it is not Trump’s platform to use and abuse-others have the right to respond or contradict-Trump runs a White House where he can throw a temper tantrum and everyone will quake and hurry about to make him happy again.People on “Twitter”do not have to bow down to his imperial nastiness,they can respond.Trump doesn’t have to read it or like it but others do have freedom of speech,even on ‘Twitter”.
7
In my view, Twitter does a good thing which is to provide a venue for Trump to vent his anger, resentments, jealousies, frustrations, all the bad feelings that a man as insecure as he is (And I think it must be a hellish life that he lives) feels. Even with this venue, we see some of his horrific actions at play. Imagine if he didn´t even had that.
4
Journalists and intellectuals should eschew Twitter and all of its ephemera. There are about 69 M Twitter users in the United States; the population is 327 M. Media types would be wise to see Twitter for what it is and stop having the vapors over this small platform. As Susan Jacoby notes, nothing of intellectual merit can be said in 140 characters, which explains perfectly why Trump favors it.
7/10 9:14 a.m.
19
"It’s here that Mr. Trump has violated Twitter’s terms of service many times, either by leveling false and hateful statements or with other kinds of incitement, the kind of which have gotten plenty of others kicked off right away. His attacks on the press, women and immigrants are most disturbing.
But with nearly blanket immunity extended by the company — because his tweets are “newsworthy” — Mr. Trump’s abuse of the platform goes on.
Many employees at Twitter have told me there is a red line that Mr. Trump could cross that would sink him — though they don’t say what it is. But until then, the company wants to provide a venue for the president’s eruptions, no matter how bad they are."
===========================================
Since when is it okay only for Trump to exercise his freedom of speech, and not others.
By making "appropriate statements", he should have no more recourse than anyone else.
He always has the option, not to "speak", and only watch Fox and Friends 4 to 8 hours a day!
And playing perpetual golf, at Mar-a-lago, and galavanting around the world on our dime aka taxes.
It seems that he has spent less time doing his job than any other President over the last 80 years!
Better still, he could spend more time running the country, and support all of us, and just not those he likes and excludes others.
That is what all of our other, prior President's have done.
3
@Quandry, since when? Since Twitter as a private company gets to choose whether and when to enforce their own terms of service. As long as they don't see any consequences-- and I don't see how they would, unless enough users started to boycott them-- then their primary goal is almost certainly $$$.
When Trump is allowed to break rules other's are kicked off of Twitter for breaking, you have discrimination, period. Dorsey's ego
via Trump has gone way too far in obscuring reality for attention, like his main man Trump. It's all for attention because they both lack connection with the earth.
5
Have never been on twitter. But now I wonder....Can I get on a level false accusations and other kinds of incitements toward Trump, his minions and family? If not, why not?
Why is Twitter allowing and even condoning and promoting this degrading, destructive behavior tearing down our social fabric. It is not worthy of news. It is bad for our country. It substitutes for actual thoughtful governing and policy. Allowing his temper tantrums, capriciousness and attacks do nothing more than normalize this behavior and energize his base. No longer do they have to be civil! Now they can be openly misogynistic and racist! They are encouraged to hate and attack our democracy! They are post truth! Twitter is providing a platform for The Big Lie.
No one should be above the Twitter rules or the laws, including and especially Trump. I say, for the sake of our country and democracy, shut him down and shut him out. Do what is right, Twitter.
7
@Deborah
"Why is Twitter allowing and even condoning and promoting this degrading, destructive behavior tearing down our social fabric."
Easy. Money.
I would love to see Bezos buy Twitter and close Trump’s account - and all related accounts to him or the Office of The President. Please. Please do it. I’ll sign on for two prime memberships if I have to. I’ll happily say okay, “yes, bill me Alexa” for an extra fee whenever she wants if we can remove the oxygen from this man’s thumb-made-presidency. AND I’m not even ON Twitter.
Thank you Jeff for your consideration.
9
The implicit assumption here is that we’re all powerless to do anything about Twitter itself, which simply isn’t true.
I deleted my Twitter account a few months ago and I swear I’m more relaxed and rested because of it. Trump is Twitter’s cash cow, so I doubt he’ll ever be blocked. But that doesn’t mean his tweets need to be amplified by the media all the time. I see headlines like “So-and-so skewers Trump on Twitter,” which is meaningless, but designed to ratchet everyone up and drive more clicks.
There’s an entire ecosystem that thrives on the garbage Trump tweets. Hate Trump or love him, he provides sustenance to a part of our brains that craves tribal acceptance. For companies like Twitter that’s money in the bank.
I don’t see why anyone needs to be on Twitter. Let it become another Fox-like echo chamber of hatred and dominance lust until it finally decays out of existence. Politicize it like everything else Trump touches and turn away. Find another site. Stop giving Donald and Jack the clicks and eyeballs they crave. You’re not going to miss anything, believe me.
#leavetwitter
9
Shakespeare had THE BEST WORDS to describe Trump on Twitter: Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
31
@Laura
Unfortunately, Macbeth says those words condemning life. Everybody's.
He was accurate in that, though.
2
@Laura Well, yeah, BEFORE he was the President of the United States. But now he does real damage to the country on a daily basis, and his toadies cringe and grovel at his every outburst. Look at the poor guy at The Fed, or his policy changes that he just spurts out onto unsuspecting departments and government officials. So, unfortunately thanks to an apathetic electorate his fury does signify something. Misery for most of us.
1
I wonder just what Trump would do if he were kicked off Twitter.
Besides have a hissy fit of course. After all Twitter is a privately owned company. I never bother with it myself so it really makes no difference to me if he Tweets his head off. But it would be fun to watch him flip his wig.
3
@USMC1954 He'd have Barr and the other thugs at DOJ investigate them.
Well bully bully for Free Speech! I will not hold my breath for this president to unblock all those he has blocked (see Chrissy Tiegen for one.) When it comes time to build a presidential library - or monument to his ego - will there be printed and bound books containing his tweets? I cannot imagine there will be any other books. What a legacy!
3
Strangely, perversely, the one criticism I most often hear from Republicans, and rabid Trump-base Republicans at that, about Trump is..... "I wish he'd stop Tweeting."
5
I don’t understand the problem. All other politicians can use Twitter to expand their audience. Isn’t this just an extension of the old “town green” where anyone could expound on their views? If you have an issue with what the president says, use it yourself!
Our candidates have no trouble letting us know how much they detest Trump - use it the way he does.
@Marty
I would rather encourage politicians, especially those elected to office, to stay off their phones and do the work they were elected to do.
26
"Twitter might be one of the smaller social media sites, but it is exactly where the American power conversation is taking place."
Therein lies the problem. Conversations about important matters are taking place in a forum where statements are limited to 280 characters. How absurd! If Trump can't or won't be kicked off of Twitter, because what he tweets is deemed to be newsworthy (or fakenewsworthy) how about getting rid of the 280 character limit for Trump tweets and the responses thereto? The extent of Trump's knowledge about matters of importance probably does not exceed 280 characters anyway but those who respond should be able to provide a full response.
37
@Jay Orchard
Actually, for much, if not most, of Trump's base, 280 characters is the extent of their attention span. It's perfect.
14
@Jay Orchard
Agree, Jay. The irony is so huge here as to be (apparently) unrecognizable by many. When I see the word Twitter, I think "stupid."
5
"How would he even govern?"
This assumes that what he does is governing.
114
@G. Adair She was being sarcastic.
1
@MJ So was I.
3
The Trump presidential museum will have one exhibit. It will be one huge LED screen displaying his Twitter remarks. The exhibit will represent the entire essence of the man-child for those interested in entertainment and mental instability. Check your brain at the door.
135
@Phil M
Funny, I think Trump will be the first President in modern history not to have a Presidential Library.
After all, what would be in it. He doesn't read. He doesn't think. He doesn't listen. He just eats fried chicken and fumes.
Perhaps a small space with peepholes that allows the viewer to watch reruns of celebrity apprentice?
38
@Phil M
I have also long considered the concept of 45's "library". For someone who doesn't read, has no books, probably can't write either, what's the point. I'm still of the opinion that instead, he should donate one of his golf courses for the first National Golf Course of America. What a draw! World leaders with the golf proclivity can come in droves just to play on it. Oh, and then you can put up a giant screen with a constant feed (in a loop) of all the twitter stuff he ever spewed out. What a winning combination!
10
@Phil M Phil, To call him a child is giving the children a bad name.
3
Just in case some folks don't know this: It is completely possible that DJT isn't even Tweeting personally most of the time.
It sure appears to me that some Tweets are clearly DJT's (bad grammar, extra caps, etc.) and some are more structured and nuanced.
I'm betting there are at least two other Tweeters who have access to his account and who are scheduling Tweets via social media tools (Twittimer, etc.). One is his director of digital strategy, and the other is probably Kellyanne Conway, given that (based on recent revelations) she and her husband both actually *hate* Trump and his family.
It would be interesting to see a recent analysis of the devices from which all these Tweets are issued, including timestamps, locations, etc.
And if this *is* true, then it speaks even more to the incapacity, inadequacy, and imbecility of our Chief Executive.
43
@JCTeller
It was covered early in Trump’s occupancy of the White House that there were at least two phones being used, one an Apple iPhone, the other being an Android phone. This was from detailed analysis of the tweets and certain things that are discernible from the two operating systems. This suggests at least two people use his account, as I am not convinced that Trump has the attention span to learn to use two different, but relatively similar, operating systems...
18
@JCTeller
Possibly Steven Miller is Tweeting for him, too. Not sure.
1
Everything I’ve seen of Twitter makes me profoundly grateful that I flirted with it for about three days and gave up on the mess, never to return. The platform concept is perfectly designed for two things: commercial promotion and The-Sky-is-Falling hysteria, both of which Trump adores.
87
@Danielle My sentiments exactly, apart from the fact that these are now, unfortunately, recognized and important media for communication.
We've been dumbed down, and we have to work with it as best we can. Even here, on this very board, we're limited to the number of characters, can't use italics, etc.
It's newspeak in a different form, that's all. If Orwell could have predicted Twitter, he would have included it in 1984.
12
@Danielle your twitter feed is exactly what you want it to be. If all you saw was a mess of Sky-is-Falling hysteria, then that's what you selected.
All I see is updates on the NBA, the PGA and a lot of ideas from writers, movie directors and critics.
7
@Baltimark Exactly. The minute I see a hateful or trolling tweet, I block the tweeter, and my blood pressure drops.
2
If Trump somehow managed to run the Presidency morally, ethically, responsibly; not pander to his ego or narcissism/authoritarian and self serving traits; refrained from spreading hatred throughout the country while exploiting the government and government assets for his own enrichment /greed; made a conscience effort to value / respect our democracy, women and people of all colors regardless of where they are from; dedicated his life to serving and doing what is right for all the people of this nation then, maybe then, this country would have a President worthy of occupying the oval office instead of a President obsessed with creating hate and criticizing others on twitter while blocking any and all criticisms on the same platform or any other social media platform. However, what we currently have is an embarrassment to the Nation, a one sided Presidency for the entire world to see which has taken a life of its own with the help of many complicit parties including congress, the American voter, an antiquated electoral college and twitter.
66
@A.A.F. - @realDonaldTrump is nothing more than a *brand.* He is an empty suit that wraps itself around a few ideals appealing to his "base."
And there is an official Twitter handle for the President - @POTUS - that he could use but doesn't.
Any social media platform can be abused but Twitter is a great way to get very brief information to great numbers of friends, family, and interested colleagues. It's not very nuanced but it's not supposed to be.
2
@A.A.F. Agreed. And Russia.
2
Trump's attempt to block his Twitter critics is just another of many crude attempts on his part to intimidate without consequence, manipulate without restraint, and dominate without challenge.
It goes way beyond his wanting to dish it out it out but not being able to take it. He has more or less institutionalized Twitter as his communications channel of choice, albeit an ostensibly private one, and simply does not want others to have the same free access that he does. That's totalitarian in nature, dictatorial in tenor and thin-skinned in emotional terms.
Live by the sword, die by the sword, as the old adage goes. In Trump's case, drop just one letter, and live by the word, die by the word, figuratively speaking of course. He's finding that Twitter may not be his sandbox, but instead, his litter box.
75
Trump will still block his Twitter from his critics, who going to stop him, and if he gets caught he will have someone take the fall, and third who is going to take Trump back to court over him not playing fair.
20
There is a long line of people watching and waiting.
I think all people would like an audience, make a "big splash" so to speak and be noticed. And when the audience is readily available , as is the case with the Bully Pulpit, whatever thought comes to mind can be projected far and wide.
But as I have been taught by people wiser than myself a letter written in hurried anger is better put aside for a while and not sent immediately---give it a few days, then rewrite it if it must be sent at all. Twitter may be doing the president a disservice by enabling him to blurt out whatever notion upsets him for the moment. Wouldn't it be better if he could think longer before he stands on his Bully Pulpits and scolds opponents.
2
@ shimr-
Harry Truman used to do exactly that- write angry letters to those who upset him. Every one of them ended up in a drawer in his desk, never to be sent. A far saner way for someone of that stature to blow off steam.
1
@shimr
You are assuming that Trump can think
1
My hope is that whoever beats his majesty King Donald I in 2020 will announce that Twitter will no longer be used as an official news outlet by any administration official. Let’s put a Twitter out of our collective misery and return to the good old-fashioned official new release!
297
"Will you commit to not using Twitter to govern?" I want this question asked of all candidates at the July debates. They all have accounts and easily respond to others who press their buttons. I am sick and dismayed at this venue for the playground bully tactics it breeds.
155
@Mark
Maybe Dorsey could grow a backbone and ban Trump from Twitter.
12
It’s great that government policy is announced in 280-character snippets (I think that’s the tweet limit). Actually the “president” can’t seem to stick to that, instead spewing multi-tweet rambles that loosely resemble English.
8
The question is, how do you enforce the ruling that politicians who use twitter in an official capacity, like announcing US policy, cannot then block users.
From the technology point, its very simple, you take away the block option from Trumps account. Believe me, its just a few lines of code.
But Twitter will not do that. So the next step, launch a massive civil suit against Twitter. If they don't remove the block option from Trumps account, then the CEO of Twitter should go to jail.
But wait... the Twitter CEO is a very rich guy right?... There is a second tier justice system for them. Let me guess, they pay a fine, claim they did no wrong, and continue to break the law? I believe that's how it works.
185
@Steve yes I’m very interested in how, and when, this will all work. Is there a date by which he will have to unblock everyone? (That’s going to be an interesting day.) Who will be responsible for verifying? Etc...
49
@Amelia it doesn’t work. It is an empty ruling. There is no enforcement
9
@Steve
You enforce the ruling by removing Trump from Twitter for committing years of violations of their policies.
The Trump base will scream, but Trump knows that what he is doing is wrong and so do they. They just scream and repeat the lies to further their wrongdoing and they know that too.
The Party of Trump has been saying, "the government is the enemy for 50 years. FIFTY YEARS!
Their enemy, "the Government" is how democracy gets things done according to the Constitution. The government is Our Republic, our approximation of democracy.
"Capitalism" is not in the Constitution. Taxing, Spending, and regulating is in the Constitution. They are against the most basic acts of governance, and the basic structures of our Republic, the separation between their church and the law, the separation of powers including control of the purse by congress not the president (who misappropriate funds on the 4th of July!), the responsibility of the the President to "faithfully execute the law," not ignore the law and make up new ones from thin air, attacking the 213 year old separation between the executive and interpretation of the Constitution, etc.
The problem is not that the President is on Twitter. The problem is that Trump is president, and has convinced a large part of the media that committing High Crimes on Twitter means they don't have to compare Trump's behavior to the Constitution.
The crimes of one don't excuse the crimes of another.
"WHATABOUT" THE CONSTITUTION?
13