Social media platforms have finally barred President Donald Trump from posting after his supporters stormed the US Capitol, but experts say these actions are too little, too late. Facebook, Snapchat and Twitch suspended Trump indefinitely, while Twitter locked his account temporarily. Multiple platforms removed his messages.
Researchers who have long warned about the rise of misinformation and violent rightwing rhetoric on social media say the Capitol attack was 'exactly what we expected'. Brian Friedberg, a senior researcher at the Harvard Shorenstein Center, noted that platforms' previous attempts to deal with such movements have fallen short.
Over the past decade, tech platforms have been reluctant to moderate Trump's posts, even as he repeatedly violated hate speech regulations. He shared racist videos targeting Muslims, retweeted a 'white power' chant, and appeared to encourage violence against Black Lives Matter protests.
Experts warn that Trump's lies and rhetoric have found an eager audience online that won't disappear when his administration ends. They point to the failure of Facebook and YouTube to curb the proliferation of dangerous conspiracy theories like QAnon, which flourished on these platforms before being partially banned.
Jennifer M Grygiel, assistant professor at Syracuse University, said the Capitol attack is 'the product of four years of systematic propaganda from the presidency'. She noted a lack of regulation for the president's Twitter account, unlike the Smith-Mundt Act which limits government propaganda distribution.
