UK, US, Germany, France once threatened Twitter, Facebook, others too

They might not have gone ahead with it, but western and more developed democracies have also had their run-ins with Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

UK former Prime Minister David Cameron, US former President Donald Trump, his left-wing successor Joe Biden, Germany’s Angela Merkel once threatened Twitter and Facebook. And they did it at most critical times in their government, in spite of freedom and rights defenders’ agitation.

While some are still showing intent to strip the platforms of their powers, political and economic, others have adopted some measure of regulations.

So President Muhammadu Buhari could appeal to some precedents as he indefinitely suspended Twitter operations in Nigeria.

Below is the timeline of such decisions.

2011: Amidst the London carnage unleashed by arsonists, looters, and thieves in August, the embattled prime minister insisted everything, including shutting of Twitter and Facebook, would be done to douse the tension.

And in 2015, as terrorist attacks increased across Europe, Cameron again insisted on a policy that will give security agencies access to encrypted messaging by Facebook and WhatsApp.

2011: It might amuse many, but France did care a fig when it banned Twitter and Facebook on radio and television. But it was about competition then.

2020: The US election year has continued to define the future and powers of the social media platform as they got caught up in the politics of policing contents. Then President Trump believed the platforms targeted conservatives while the Biden and Democrats believed the platforms allowed misinformation and hate speeches by MAGA, QAnon, and white supremacists to flood the civic space.

In retaliation, Trump made moves to tweak the Section 230 of the FCC that protects the internet companies from legal liabilities as publishers. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg had to face the US Senate investigative committee for all the inconsistencies.

After he was sworn in, Biden too has not relented on cutting down the powers of the social media platform where hate speeches and misinformation still reign.

Biden has called for the revocation of the Section 230.

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2018: Germany’s Merkel didn’t threaten to shut the platforms down. But she and her party insisted the Network Enforcement Act (aka Facebook Act) enacted in 2018 was a correct and necessary step.

The six sections of the Act lay out the process of complaining, receiving complaints, responding, legal dispute, and fines. Failure of a social media owner to delete an illegal post within 24 hours attracts a sanction: up to €50 million. A liable individual could cough up €5 million.

The laws were reviewed early in 2021.