Brit Hume: Twitter's reasons for banning Trump are 'pure editorial judgments'
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Fox News Senior Political Analyst Brit Hume is calling out big social media companies for banning President Trump's accounts based on what he says are "pure editorial judgments."
"These social media companies have a legal right to do this, but they should not then pose as open platforms entitled to legal protections from the legal risks faced by publishers," he wrote in a tweet Friday night.
The tweet was in response to Twitter's announcement that it would permanently suspend the president's account following a violent riot by Trump loyalists at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Twitter employees, like many business leaders and government officials, blamed Trump for inciting the riot, and accused their employer of enabling the president to do so.
TWITTER SUSPENDS @REALDONALDTRUMP ACCOUNT PERMANENTLY
Twitter first suspended Trump temporarily — a marked escalation in its response after months of flagging his tweets. The final blow came Friday, following posts he made after the 12-hour suspension ended.
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," the company explained in a blog post.
"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action," Twitter continued. "Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open."
"However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules entirely and cannot use Twitter to incite violence, among other things. We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement," Twitter said.
In a statement following the ban, the president condemned Twitter as an opponent of free speech.
A day earlier, Facebook announced it would block Trump from its namesake platform as well as photo-sharing app Instagram "indefinitely" and at least until the end of his term.
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"We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
Wednesday's storming of the Capitol led to the deaths of five people, including 42-year-old Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick.
Washington's Metropolitan Police Department announced Thursday that at least 70 people had been arrested so far.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
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