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Trump Thinks the Twitter Trending Section is Illegal. It’s not.

Danielle from Leaf and Core
Reading Time: 3 minutes.

Tweet from Donald Trump: So disgusting to watch Twitter's so-called "Trending", [sic] where sooo [sic] many trends are about me, and never a good one. They look for anything they can find, make it as bad as possible, and blow it up, trying to make it trend. Really ridiculous, illegal, and, of course, very unfair!

Tweet embedded below, screenshot used in case Trump deletes it.

I woke up yesterday and checked Twitter before getting out of bed. I asked myself why “Demon Sperm” was trending. After all, it’s clear that “Demon Semen” is better, as it rhymes and opens up the possibility of puns about hell’s navy. Demon sperm was trending because Trump retweeted a doctor who backed his false claims about a COVID-19 “cure” who also believes that sex dreams and impure thoughts are a result of demon semen. No, really. As everyone knows, sex dreams only come from incubi and succubi, and those two definitely have nothing to do with sleep paralysis or night terrors. Nope. Definitely those pesky sexy demons.

For those in the U.S., the trending section usually has at least one anti-Trump hashtag. After all, he’s the leader of the United States during what can only be described as a fascist crackdown against protests in cities about police brutality and systematic racism, amidst a pandemic that most of the world has been able to start moving on from. The United States hasn’t because of Trump’s leadership, or, rather, lack thereof. As a result, many people are tweeting many things about Trump, and none of them are good.

Twitter’s Trump’s favorite social network. But he needs to feed his ego, and lately, it’s just not doing that for him, even within his Fox News bubble. His struggles with stairs and ramps, cognitive tests, and inability to consistently stay on message (social distance and wear a mask. It’s that easy), have all come back to haunt him on Twitter. Trump’s upset.

That’s how he came to tweet out that Twitter is somehow breaking the law with their trending section, which just shows what people are tweeting about. Maybe what he really wants to say is that all criticism should be illegal?

Trump’s Hate of Free Speech

Trump has a long history against free speech. He’s spoken about putting the burden of proof on the accused in cases of libel and slander since before he was even president, and doesn’t seem to understand how libel laws work. He also has complained about policies that work against hate speech on networks like Twitter. By fighting hate speech, the speech of those targeted by that hate can speak up. Squashing hate speech is actually the liberation of speech, not contradictory.

But Trump’s criticism here runs deep. He’s not just claiming that he doesn’t like hearing bad things about his performance. Trump appears to be a textbook narcissist, and therefore cannot handle criticism. That’s part of the job as president though. A portion of the country will never be happy with you. At his point, it seems most of the country is unhappy with Donald Trump, and he can’t take the heat.

But is the heat illegal?

No, Trending is not Illegal

Trump’s asserting that the trending section is illegal because Twitter can moderate it to remove abusive trends. He’s making the claim that moderation is the same as publication. There’s no legal standing for this. In fact, it would be problematic. Asserting that Twitter is a publisher because they have moderation would do the same for every business. A business owner would be a “publisher” if they washed over graffiti painted on their building or if they kicked a person out of their restaurant for shouting. Moderation is not publication. The trending section is just made up of what people are talking about, that’s it. It’s a trend. Yes, Twitter can remove abusive, harmful, or obscene trends. That doesn’t make them a publisher.

“Trends are determined by an algorithm and, by default, are tailored for you based on who you follow, your interests, and your location.”

– From Twitter’s explanation of “Trends”

The second part of his claim, that Twitter is manipulating trends to make him look bad? That’s delusional to the point of tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories. The president has no proof that Twitter is manipulating trends to make him look bad. In fact, if Twitter wanted, they could sue for libel. Trump’s approval rating is low right now, as it has been throughout his presidency, but exceptionally low now. That’s why he faces criticism on Twitter.

What Trump really seems to be asking for is for Twitter to censor political opinions so the trending section is nothing but pro-Trump messaging. That’s fascism, but we’re used to it out of this administration.

#TrumpleThinSkin

As a result of his latest temper tantrump, erm, tantrum, Twitter users got #TrumpleThinSkin trending. Earlier, #WhyIDontLikeTrump is the top trend, along with trends calling for Trump’s overprotective Attorney General, William Barr’s impeachment, and another mocking his latest press conference. Right now, “Trump Stooge” is trending, mocking Susan Colins for defending Trump’s legal violations.

Trump’s going to need some thicker skin. With under 100 days until the election, the anti-Trump trends are just getting started. They have nothing to do with Twitter’s wishes, but with the opinions of most Americans. Trump’s been growing frustrated with his favorite social network, and this won’t be the worst of what he has to say. That’ll come leading up to the election, or, if he wins, immediately after.

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