US social media companies acted within the scope of their responsibilities by permanently blocking outgoing US President Donald Trump from posting, a European Commission spokesman said Monday
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2021) US social media companies acted within the scope of their responsibilities by permanently blocking outgoing US President Donald Trump from posting, a European Commission spokesman said Monday.
"We have of course seen the reports on the decision of social media platforms to suspend the accounts of the president of the US. This is primarily the responsibility of the platforms enforcing the terms of services," Johannes Bahrke said.
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram froze Trump's accounts last week after accusing him of fomenting violence that led to the deadly storming of the US Capitol on Wednesday.
The European commissioner for internal market, Thierry Breton, addressed the issues of social media's responsibility and oversight in an op-ed published by Politico on Sunday. He argued that what was illegal offline should also be illegal online.
Commenting on the op-ed, Bahrke said that the digital services and digital markets acts proposed by the commission last month sought to balance the respect for freedom of speech with more accountability for social media.
Under the proposal, social media will have to clarify the terms of service and allow users whose accounts were blocked to seek redress, the spokesman added.
