36
votes
Facebook bans Trump "indefinitely" with Mark Zuckerberg explaining that "the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service... are simply too great"
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- Title
- Facebook bans Trump 'indefinitely'
- Authors
- Makena Kelly
- Published
- Jan 7 2021
- Word count
- 123 words
I need a new word (probably in German) to describe what I'm feeling in response to this (and similar announcements). It's a stomach-churning mixture of disgust, relief, anger, and validation.
Watching Trump spout his rhetoric over the last 4+ years, it was inevitable that something like yesterday would happen. It was almost certain. If there where places to place such a bet, the odds would have been something like 2:1 in favor.
Now it happened. And I feel validated that it happened. And angry that it was allowed to happen. And disgusted that it took an actual mob breaking into Congress for all of the platforms, organizations, politicians, and news wonks to finally say "ok, THAT's too far". Where did you fucks think this was headed? That all the crazies would tire themselves out at some point, take a nap and then go quietly back to their lives?
I will eat my socks if a similar riot doesn't happen on Jan 20, even if Trump is completely de-platformed and/or 25th'd before then. The inertia has been building for years. Trump has been stoking and fanning the flames of this insanity for years. It's not going to stop on a figurative dime just because some people got to blow off some steam by smashing some windows and take some selfies in Pelosi's office.
Slow motion train wreck for 4 years. We all knew it was coming but you couldn't stop people from getting in-front of the train either. Most frustrating thing about all this.
I will take the opposite side of that bet*. There will be no further MAGAriots, in DC. The MAGArioters have thoroughly embarrassed all those who were involved or supported it. Everyone, of power, is walking back with tail between there legs.
Everyone is also realizing how impotent their lashout was. How immature its was and how it accomplished nothing.
*I wont eat my sock, but I will donate $50 to a charity of your choice if I am wrong.
From a YouGov poll:
I will be interested to see how this changes over time. Because the narrative that the media is pushing is very much condemnation, I kinda wish they would push how it accomplished nothing and was cringe to watch.
I wish they would amplify Chuck Schumer words from last night
I guess what I'm trying to say by the time that poll had come out, I don't think people had enough time to process what had happened.
I'd like to think that this would be common sense after a century of the Klan riding around in bedsheets and calling themselves names out of a Garth Marenghi novel, and yet...
Maybe, but with how many Trump scandals has conservatives' opinion of him and/or his actions worsened after the initial bombshell? Literally none. Like I just mentioned in another thread, at first, they're unsure how to excuse what happened and approval is at its lowest... and then they always eventually latch onto a defense and forget any concerns they had. They commit to it so deeply, Jesus Christ himself could come down to Earth and tell them it's unsubstantiated, and they'd call him a Soros funded Never Trumper. Half the time, Trump basically admits to everything, and it never matters to them.
I still wouldn’t count out further MAGAriots. The brain builds bubbles of cognitive dissonance to protect itself, and I don’t think they believe their lashing out accomplished nothing. They did force Congress to flee the Capitol building, and came very close to burning the ballots of the electors. After January 20th, their just going to think that the Deep State is more powerful than they thought, but that Trump and the other True PatriotsTM can beat them in 2022 and 2024.
I don't disagree with your logic here, and had to search down this post from yesterday because it has been sticking in my mind and backs up your point.
Meaning this will embolden those to take more direct action.
Zeitlupenzugwrack. It's a nice alliteration (and a totally invented word, but the German language is lenient with concatenation).
Nitpick: You wouldn't say Zugwrack in German, that would refer to an already wrecked train, either through accident or normal decomission. The actual term needed would be Zugunglück, which literally translates as "unfortunate accident of/involving a train".
Zeitlupenzugunglück still works as an alliteration and you get the meaning of it (although it is a bit ambiguous grammatically). It would be more common to say Zugunglück in Zeitlupe, which is probably what you were actually going for (i.e. slow motion train wreck). :)
I will IRL take that bet (the charity one, not the sock one), since either way there's a good outcome. Also, I should donate more in general...
A gentle-persons agreement then!
I'm not so confident in the embarrassment of the far right, but I do think that this will not happen again. Congress, the first among equals, is universally extremely pissed at the security situation - I expect Capitol Police to have the largest growth in employment over the next few weeks for the D.C area.
I am more trying to say it embarrasses the power structure behind them. You cannot embarrass the cult members they have bought in. But the pseudo cult leaders are all back tracking, resigning, and jumping ship. Which leave one head left, Trump. And if the media is smart, big if. He wont be given a megaphone/stage again.
Trumps power, his real power, the last four years is the fact the media "has to" report on everything his says and does. The power of the bully pulpit is in the feed back loop it creates. And Trumps ability to magnify that feedback loop to his own gains.
Another perspective; you can and that's exactly what has caused this to happen.
I've observed that much of the support the president has receives seems to be related to a sense of indignation over lack of influence and embarrassment stemming from having to support the worst principals and behaviors represented by President Trump. This effect has been compounding for a while, clearly.
The "rural" social experience and resulting perspective involve a deep respect for neighbors, family, and community. When any of those is "attacked" the instinctual response is to stand up for the group and reject the offending information.
You might be off by a day
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1347253748444389377
Not just Trump. This insanity has been developed for decades by the Republican party. The entire party is an illegitimate, toxic institution. The reason no one mainstream suggests that the entire party is the problem is very similar in form to the point made by this quote:
So it is as well for the idea of the USA's two-party system, even though it's not even two hundred years old.
I think yesterday was a bit of a wakeup call to Federal police in DC. While they were inexplicably unprepared yesterday, they did eventually gather enough officers to regain some measure of control. I see no evidence that a significant number of Federal law enforcement personnel in DC support the attempted coup.
I expect from now through Jan. 20th and beyond we're going to see a lot more law enforcement presence and a much greater degree of preparedness than we saw yesterday. In other words, unless the insurrectionists significantly step up their level of aggression I don't think we're going to see anything like the events yesterday repeated for the remainder of the month.
Oh I agree 100%. To be clear, I don't think the next "thing" will be the same as it was yesterday. The same as after 9/11 I was afraid of another terrorist attack, but I didn't believe it would use airplanes. Now that the incident has occurred in the capital, all of the various security forces in DC have been slapped in the face and embarrassed to one degree or another. The DC police in particular. They'll do everything they can to not let it happen again, especially with such an obvious next date as the 20th.
However yesterday a wave managed to lap up over the top and leak into the capital building. The tide is still coming in.
A procedure occurred yesterday that normally passes without remark or comment. Instead of passing unremarked, it was magnified in the public consciousness by the President, the media, and the feedback cycle that they have with each other. Thinking proportionally, the presidential inauguration ceremony is an event that in a normal year is a Big Deal, and carries significant cultural weight. Emotions will run even higher than they where yesterday. The tide of emotional and psychological zealotry will continue to surge forward.
I do think it's a safe bet to say that "something" will happen. Specifically, there will be gatherings/rallies/mobs of Trump supporters on the 20th (and apparently the 19th?). Like yesterday, they will occur in multiple states, not just DC. That's a lot of mobs to try and keep orderly, when the mob isn't interested in simply standing around to make a statement.
Link to the statement by Zuckerberg, since it’s not included in the article.
https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10112681480907401
Deplatformed from Shopify as well
I guess Zuckerberg stopped worrying about the consequences to Facebook from picking a side. Trump isn’t going to do much in two weeks.
That was my first thought. Modified statement: "Now that Trump is leaving office, we have determined that deplatforming him will cost us less in the long run than the unfavorable optics and resulting calls for legislation that will follow if we leave him up." Beep boop.
Still, good outcome IMO.
I would add the consequences of Trumpists deciding they're not welcome. How many will actually leave?
This isn't necessarily about people cancelling accounts. Facebook could become a quiet specialty platform like LinkedIn or NextDoor, if most political discussion moves elsewhere.
But then again, Facebook is a global company so they should do okay even if they lose many Americans. Not to mention the other services with linked accounts, which might still be used if discussion on Facebook itself dies.
I am surprised to hear Trump was on Facebook. I thought Twitter was Trumps primary megaphone.
Twitter is the platform that Trump personally uses. This was his Facebook account managed by his staff/campaign that has over 32 million likes and 35 million followers. Given the differences in userbase size between Twitter and Facebook, it's quite likely that his messages are seen by many, many more users over on Facebook.
Trumps Twitter tends to get amplified in the news to a much wider audience, but your point is still incredibly valid.