Former Twitter Exec Says Trump’s Account Should be Muted Until Election is Decided
Donald Trump has a real love/hate relationship with Twitter. The site, of course, allows him to speak to his 87 million followers at any time, day or night. But the site has recently begun to fact check the president’s tweets, and this is something that enrages him.
Greenberger once worked as Twitter’s global director of content partnership. Tapper asked him, “You said Trump should be silenced on both platforms until a winner in the election is determined. That’s a pretty extreme suggestion. Why do you say that?”
The former exec replied:
“It is, and extreme times demand extreme suggestions. I did not come to this opinion lightly. I believe the tech companies, generally, have a responsibility to be neutral. I think in the case of Twitter specifically, it’s been a great champion of the democratization of information as well as a strong supporter of freedom of expression. However, we are in a unique, and, I believe, a fraught moment in time with a president who is desperate and he’s facing a very difficult situation. I think the time is to mute the president, temporarily, while votes are being cast right now and until the winner is decided.”
Greenberger then referenced Trump’s vote by mail claims, saying, “This is not coming from the dark corners of the dark web or social media, it’s coming from the president. So perhaps it’s time to mute the president while we’re in this present time.”
Watch a clip of the segment below, courtesy of CNN:
"Extreme times demand extreme suggestions," says fmr. Twitter and Google executive Peter Greenberger on silencing Trump's social media presence.
He adds, it may be time "to mute the President — temporarily — while votes are being cast right now and until the winner is decided." pic.twitter.com/QwdDenxiHo
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) October 20, 2020