Alexander Stubb, a former Finnish prime minister (2014-2015), has criticized the ban of US President Donald Trump's social media accounts.
His thoughts caused a heated discussion on Twitter on Tuesday about freedom of expression, the rights of companies and users of social networks, as well as the alleged dangerousness for democracy of some of the messages posted, among other things.
In a thread of tweets published in English, the Finnish politician of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) - who now works as a professor - expressed his dislike of Donald Trump, but questioned whether "in a democracy" it would be up to Twitter to take such a decision.
"Courts, not social media platforms, decide when (democracy) boundaries are broken," he said.
I like @Twitter. I do not like Donald Trump. I like free speech. I do not like Twitter’s decision to ban DT from its platform. In a democracy legislation, by elected representatives, sets the boundaries. Courts, not social media platforms, decide when those boundaries are broken.
— Alexander Stubb (@alexstubb) January 12, 2021
Stubb claims not to see a problem "with an account being suspended " or even with the inclusion in the tweets of alerts indicating the falsity of the information provided. However, he insists that, in his view, a permanent ban is a measure that should be adopted by "the judiciary" and not by a listed company.
I have no problem with an account being suspended, or Twitter indicating that the information provided by a tweet is disputable or wrong, but a permanent ban should be decided through the judiciary, not a listed company. 2/3
— Alexander Stubb (@alexstubb) January 12, 2021
In an attempt to make clear that his statement is not a defense of Donald Trump, Stubb adds that, in his opinion, the world is better off without Donald Trump's tweets.
And for the record: I think the world is a better, more peaceful and civilised place without the tweets of Donald Trump. 3/3
— Alexander Stubb (@alexstubb) January 12, 2021
In addition to Prime Minister (2014-2015), Alexander Stubb has served as Foreign Minister (2008-2011) and Minister of Finance (2015-2016).
