Twitter Calls Open Internet an ‘Essential Human Right’ After Being Blocked in Nigeria, Forgets Its Own Censorship
“Access to the free and #OpenInternet is an essential human right in modern society.” – Unless you’re Trump, apparently.
The government of Nigeria didn’t like the fact that Twitter deleted some comments from their president, so they blocked access to the social media platform.
Twitter, which has banned countless conservatives, including a sitting President of the United States, then had the nerve to release a statement claiming that open internet is an essential human right.
Can you think of a more stunning lack of self-awareness?
Michael Ruiz reports at FOX News:
Twitter declares access to its platform a ‘human right’ amid censorship of conservatives
Twitter declared a free and open Internet to be “an essential human right in modern society” Saturday morning after the Nigerian government banned access to the social media giant following a dispute with its president – even as critics say it suppresses conservative content and bans its own users.
Twitter deleted a fiery tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari that many perceived as a veiled threat against violent separatists in the nation’s southeast – then his government’s information wing responded by banning the social media platform from the country.
“The Federal Government has suspended, indefinitely, the operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in Nigeria,” the country’s Federal Ministry of Information and Culture tweeted Friday night.
This is how Twitter responded:
“We are deeply concerned by the blocking of Twitter in Nigeria,” Twitter’s Public Policy division tweeted in response. “Access to the free and #OpenInternet is an essential human right in modern society. We will work to restore access for all those in Nigeria who rely on Twitter to communicate and connect with the world. #KeepitOn.”
Here’s the tweet:
We are deeply concerned by the blocking of Twitter in Nigeria. Access to the free and #OpenInternet is an essential human right in modern society.
We will work to restore access for all those in Nigeria who rely on Twitter to communicate and connect with the world. #KeepitOn
— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) June 5, 2021
Replies rolled in quickly:
Access to the free & #OpenInternet is an essential human right in modern society… unless you’re Donald Trump. Or reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop. Or discussing the biology of gender. Or the murderous dictator of Iran. Or a Chinese Communist Party peon lying about COVID. 🤷🏼♀️
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) June 5, 2021
No self awareness None. https://t.co/XhCVKoU2ZO
— H.L. Chiselfritz (@RotNScoundrel) June 5, 2021
You can't possibly say this with a straight face while banning the account of the president of the United States. https://t.co/uEdNKWgJ7Z
— Rising serpent 🇺🇸 (@rising_serpent) June 5, 2021
Twitter should be the last website to talk about #OpenInternet https://t.co/swu0XDPahn
— didsyan (@didsyan) June 5, 2021
Remember when you locked out the President of the United States? Good times. https://t.co/oczrKF7Bwo
— Anna James Zeigler (@ajzeigler) June 5, 2021
The company blocking a former president’s content from their site believe “access to the internet” is an “essential human right.”
You couldn’t make it up if you tried. https://t.co/ACmzRAAKeY
— Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) June 5, 2021
Not sure I understand this. If Twitter can block Nigerians and their elected officials for violating its standards and policies, why can’t Nigeria and its elected officials block Twitter for violating their standards and policies? https://t.co/i4zAXJrWCd
— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) June 5, 2021
Twitter clearly thinks that only they are allowed to ban, censor, and silence people.
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Comments
Poor Jack, payback is a bytch
Here’s to hoping other Countries do the same
We know America doesn’t have the cajones
Not sure it has to do with cojones. The powers that currently be LOVE what Twitter does. It makes their power grab that much easier.
It’s lack of cajones, the “power”
has them by the balls
He is an incredible putz, who got very, very lucky.
But a putz nonetheless.
Duffy is such a hack I don’t even think he really understands where he stands.
“Can you think of a more stunning lack of self-awareness?”
Yes, yes I can. How about a CEO who wears a nose ring and has a stupid beard that makes him look like he has a billy goat’s nut-sack hanging from his chin?
I’ve seen far worse beards than that. Robert Bork comes to mind.
Yeah, Bork’s beard was indeed a shit-show. Sometimes he had that Abe Lincoln thing going on with the beard and no mustache, but it was always splotchy and never full, especially as he got older. He almost looked like he had the mange in his beard.
“Can you think of a more stunning lack of self-awareness?”
How about a bunch of soi-disant conservatives demanding the government use its monopoly on the use of power to compel a private company to give them free services?
I mean, you’re all basically arguing that the President of the United States should be able to compel any private company to give him free goods and services under threat of police action. Seems like a weird flex, but okay.
You clearly have me confused with someone else. I argue no such thing. I think social media is a toxic, narcissistic circle jerk.
If that “free service” is an essential human right, then yes. How is denying access to Twitter any different from denying access to a hospital emergency room, under that condition?
Spoken like a true socialist. There is no such thing as a human right to someone else’s property. Ever.
If it’s a private hospital, the government has no right to compel it to give away its services. The difference is that (a) hospitals are all subsidized by the government, which gives it a lot of power over them; and (b) hospitals are not protected by the first amendment, so if the government forces them to give away free services they have no legal recourse.
Once again Jack, you are being stabbed with the Rules for Thee but Not for Me crap that you have going on Twatter. Your moneymaking racist and biased “platform” (disguised as social media rather than the political platform that it actually is) should be stripped of any and all protections and unless you adhere to the First Amendment, should be shut down permanently.
The first amendment applies only to the government. It is precisely the first amendment that guarantees his right to deny his services to people he doesn’t like. And that same first amendment forbids the US government from preventing people from using his services with his permission. Of course the first amendment doesn’t apply in Nigeria, but the freedom that it protects does.
That Dorsey guy looks ridiculous.
I bet he smells good, too.
Dorsey looks like he is heading for Jim Jones status. Find a nice island Jack.
Cognitive dissonance: The term cognitive dissonance is used to describe the mental discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes. People tend to seek consistency in their attitudes and perceptions, so this conflict causes feelings of unease or discomfort.
Methinks Jack is oblivious to his own double standards. Just the guy we need censoring honest people on the internet.
#Dorseyisarumpswab
Would like to see some of the leaders that had good relationships with Trump block FB/Twitter completely for censorship.
They did it to Trump, they could do it to them.
No, they can’t. They are bound by the first amendment, FB/Twitter are not. It’s the fundamental difference between me banning you from my house, and the government banning you from visiting my house at my invitation.
I’m sure Jack will explain to us how ‘it is different when Twitter does it’. Likely to include a lecture about situational ethics.
They didn’t “forget” anything. They simply have zero shame.
can’t wait to read about jack’s farewell house party–won’t be too long now
I just don’t understand the business plan of having your business run by some homeless guy
Why does ANYONE waste their time using this crap (Twitter, FB etc.)?
It’s like cutting your skull open and letting the progressive masses use your brain as a toilet.
The whole premise of this post is a basic distortion of the concept of “rights”.
Nobody ever has a right to someone else’s property. Even if you’re literally starving to death, you have no right to steal someone else’s food; if you do, necessity is a good defense, so you will not be convicted or punished, but that doesn’t mean you had a right to the food. It still wasn’t yours, and when you’re able to, you must compensate the owner for it.
In this case the freedom of speech means you have no right to use someone’s server without permission; but it also means that if you have permission then you do have the right to use it. If the government forces him to let you use it against his will, or if it prevents you from using it with his permission, it is abridging the freedom of speech.