Critics Urge Social Media to Follow on Trump Ban with More Right-wing Leaders

By Staff, Agencies

After major social media firms banned US President Donald Trump from their platforms, activists and academics began to openly question when other populist leaders, such as Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and India’s Narendra Modi, will face the same outcome, The Guardian reported on Sunday.

One of Brazil’s most famous and politically outspoken online celebrities, Felipe Neto, was quoted by the Guardian as saying: “I have to follow YouTube’s rules when I post my videos, or I get banned. Journalists have to obey their outlet’s rules when they publish a story. So why shouldn’t presidents have to obey any rules when they publish something online?”

Bolsonaro’s political rival Marcelo Freixo tweeted: “Twitter has put a muzzle on Trump. We’ll need another for Brazil.”

The Brazilian leader has been compared to his American counterpart, downplaying the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted Twitter and Facebook to remove several videos of him under the pretext of spreading false information.

Modi, however, is not as active on social media. But his nationalist views, as well as those spouted by politicians from the ruling BJP Party, have led to rival politicians requesting his removal due to alleged hate speech, Business Insider reported.

Trump was booted from all major social media platforms, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter, after allegedly inciting a mob of his supporters to storm Capitol Hill during the confirmation of Joe Biden to the presidency on January 6.

Trump has consistently insisted that the elections were fraudulent, unwilling to concede defeat to his Democrat rival.