French President Emmanuel Macron considered the blocking of accounts of former American leader Donald Trump on social networks as “new violence”. His words during an online speech organized by the Atlantic Council, RIA Novosti reports.
According to Macron, such a step is not a democratic response. “I do not want to live in a democracy where key decisions, decisions sometimes to turn off your microphone, are made by a private player, a private social network. I want it to be decided by law or your representative, by decrees, instructions, democratically discussed and approved by democratic leaders,” he stated.
On January 9, Twitter indefinitely blocked the account of the head of state due to “the risk of further incitement to violence.” In addition, the management of the microblogging service promised to block the account of any user who gave the floor to the US President. Not long before that, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that Trump would be left without his social media account until the end of his presidential term.
The riots that occurred on January 6 became the formal reason for the blocking of Trump’s social networks. Protesters supporters of the incumbent president, who disagreed with the official election results, broke into the Capitol building and surrounded the Senate hall. Senators and congressmen had to interrupt the meeting, which was planned to approve the results of the electoral college vote. Five people died during the protest.