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Trump threatens to 'close' down social media platforms

(techcrunch.com)
707 points patd | 1 comments | 27 May 20 12:21 UTC | HN request time: 0.213s | source
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VBprogrammer ◴[27 May 20 13:33 UTC] No.23322903[source]▶
Can this even be considered a free speech issue? They aren't deleting his tweet, only displaying it alongside a fact check. Of course you can try to call into question the impartiality of the fact check but that is a long way from not deciding not to show the content.
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m-p-3 ◴[27 May 20 18:52 UTC] No.23328045[source]▶
And if he decided to "close" Twitter, it would actually be a clear case of censorship from the government and a violation of free speech.

Twitter is merely labelling a tweet as being factually incorrect, it's not hiding the content.

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rsynnott ◴[27 May 20 19:13 UTC] No.23328387[source]▶
Well, it wouldn't be, because he _couldn't do it_. He's not a dictator, despite apparent aspirations.
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three_seagrass ◴[27 May 20 19:21 UTC] No.23328509[source]▶
Real question: As the head of the Federal executive branch, who would stop him?
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dlp211 ◴[27 May 20 19:28 UTC] No.23328611[source]▶
Judges in every district, appeals court, and the SCOTUS. An injunction would be put in place not more than an hour after such a deceleration by the POTUS was made.
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colejohnson66 ◴[27 May 20 19:39 UTC] No.23328810[source]▶
Genuine question: What would happen if there was a massive conspiracy to just plow through with the plan despite the injunction? Sure, Congress could impeach him again and “convict” him, but what if the people with the power to literally remove him refused to cooperate?

I know this is a very massive hypothetical, but it’s one I’ve wondered for a while. Basically, as the head of one of the branches, he could have subordinates forcefully removed, but who’ll forcefully remove him in this case?

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1. mediaman ◴[27 May 20 20:14 UTC] No.23329328[source]▶
There's no mechanism to make it happen.

It would have to happen through the courts, and the courts won't allow it.

They can bully Twitter and threaten to e.g. withhold federal contracts (though even this runs into legal trouble) but how does the executive branch just "shut down" a platform?

You can't just send in the FBI and put a halt on things.

This will just be more of his mindless rage that a certain portion of the population gobbles up. His real goal is to discredit Twitter et al, which is unlikely to have much impact.