January 6th, 2021 will be written in future history books. The rampage at the capital was a catalyst for several events including Trump’s impeachment and his social media ban. After the events at the capital, multiple social media platforms implemented a permanent suspension of President Trumps’ accounts. 

Twitter was the first to announce a 12-hour suspension on his account immediately following the events in D.C. Twitter later decided to permanently suspend his account. They tweeted a day after the events announcing his suspension, “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence”. Their hopes were to reduce any “excitement” and bring protestors to peace. Various platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Amazon suspended his accounts. Mark Zuckerberg announced on January 7th that his Instagram account would be banned indefinitely.

President Trumps’ accounts were not the only ones targeted. A multitude of his allies, campaign pages, and relatives’ accounts were either temporarily suspended or permanently banned. While their goal was to reduce the need for violence, many are questioning whether their decision violates the First Amendment Right. An interview with David Goldberger, a former lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, answers that question. “Of course it’s censorship, but it’s not government censorship and that’s the dilemma,” says Goldberger, “The question is whether these private platforms are the same as newspapers refusing to run political ads, or whether it’s the same as the government saying you can’t talk” (Newsweek). The companies that are potentially violating this right are private, therefore it acts as a loophole, but many people don’t agree with these claims. A Bob Jones student says, “It’s wrong and it’s an infraction on his free speech”. 

Other students pointed out the bias that Twitter has been political parties. “I understand that Twitter is an independent company and can do what it wants, but it has to go both ways. Yesterday, I saw a tweet from a Congresswoman where she was holding a bloody mask that resembled President Trump’s face, captioned ‘It’s over. You lost. Just resign already’. If that doesn’t violate ‘guidelines’ I don’t know what does. It is a complete double standard” says a Junior at Bob Jones.

Overall, private companies have the power to control who uses their platform. Social media has influenced our lives and our world in a multitude of ways and should not be used in a negative way.