Saturday, July 7, 2018

What did Donald Trump do today?

He suggested that Twitter ban actual news sources, and not the bots who helped sabotage the election for him.

Twitter has been making efforts to delete "bot" accounts that are used to spam other users, fluff up a celebrity's follower count, or spread misinformation. Trump, of course, benefited during the 2016 election season from a vast network of Russia-linked fake accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media. These accounts imitated real Americans and spread plausible-sounding but fake news stories designed to suppress potential Clinton voters or energize potential Trump voters. The bot-network is active on Twitter to this day.

Trump, for whom Twitter is a top daily priority, took notice today, and suggested that instead Twitter delete the accounts of the New York Times and Washington Post. He also said that they would be out of business within "7 years," probably meant to suggest that he'd find a way to make that happen if he served two full terms.

Trump, who has personally retweeted Russian propaganda-bot accounts on a number of occasions, still denies that Russia intervened in the election on his behalf. As evidence, he has repeatedly cited the fact that Vladimir Putin simply denies it. Putin and Trump will meet privately and without advisors present during their upcoming summit.

Why does this matter?

  • Ignoring a hostile foreign power's attack on the election that put him in power is what a corrupted president would do.
  • Leaders of a democracy don't try to silence the free press.