The move has triggered fierce debate about where the balance lies between a tech company’s right to censor users who breach their content policies versus an individual’s right to freedom of expression.
Political leaders from all part of the world have voiced their concern at the unchecked power of Big Tech giants following their purge of President Donald Trump.
The following list was compiled by Breitbart news:
German chancellor Angela Merkel, whose pro-migration, anti-hate speech policies have little in common with President Trump or his movement, has nonetheless expressed concern at Silicon Valley’s unchecked power.
“The chancellor sees the complete closing down of the account of an elected president as problematic,” saidSteffen Seibert, chief spokesman of the German chancellor, at a recent press conference in Berlin.
France
French political leaders also voiced their opposition. The finance minister of France, Bruno Le Maire, condemned what he called a “digital oligarchy,” calling it “one of the threats” to democracy.
“There needs to be public regulation of big online platforms,” said Le Maire.
And Clement Beaune, the French junior minister for European Affairs, told Bloomberg TV that he was “shocked” to see President Trump banned from Twitter, saying “this should be decided by citizens, not by a CEO.”
Mexico
The French and German leaders join president Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, an avowed socialist, who was the first world leader to condemn Facebook and Twitter for banning president Trump.
“I don’t like anybody being censored or taking away from the right to post a message on Twitter or Face(book). I don’t agree with that, I don’t accept that,” said López Obrador.
The Mexican president said tech companies were behaving like an “inquisition” to “manage public opinion.”
“This is really serious” he added.
The United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of Britain, Boris Johnson, was reportedly alarmed at Silicon Valley censorship even before Trump was permanently removed from Twitter and other platforms.
In November, the Daily Mail quoted a senior government source who said the Prime Minister was considering new laws against tech censorship following Twitter’s censoring of President Trump during the U.S. presidential election.
“Boris did not like what he saw in the US election and has asked for more time to consider how to avoid the same thing happening to him in future,” said the government source, discussing a planned internet regulation bill.
The European Union
Manfred Weber, leader of the largest party group in the European Parliament, said “we cannot leave it to American Big Tech to decide how we can or cannot discuss online,” labeling it a threat to the “consensus building” that is “crucial in free and democratic societies.”
Poland
Poland, run by a populist-nationalist government, has long taken the issue of tech censorship seriously. The Polish government is in the process of passing a law that would fine tech companies millions of euros for censoring content that is legal in Poland.
The law would also create a new Court for the Protection of Freedom of Speech in Poland, where citizens of the country will be able to escalate complaints of tech censorship
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