> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://goodoil.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Twitter Trump Ban Was Planned - URL: https://goodoil.news/the-twitter-trump-ban-was-planned/ - Published: 2022-12-12T23:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2022-12-12T03:17:49.000Z - Author: Guest Post - Tags: Business, Censorship, Free Speech, Politics, USA Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-16 22:34 **Autumn Johnson** [newsbusters.org](https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/autumn-johnson/2022/12/10/latest-twitter-files-dump-reveals-safety-exec-purposely?ref=goodoil.news) *Autumn is a practising attorney licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia. When not working, Autumn enjoys reading, writing, playing video games, and spending time with her cats.* --- Twitter employees manufactured justifications to nix former President Donald Trump from the platform in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot, as they sought a harsher policy that would apply only to the former leader. That’s according to author [Michael Shellenberger](https://twitter.com/shellenbergermd?ref=goodoil.news), who shared the latest batch of Twitter files in a series of tweets confirming that former Twitter Head of Trust and Safety [Yoel Roth](https://twitter.com/yoyoel?ref=goodoil.news) and former Twitter General Counsel [Vijaya Gadde](https://twitter.com/vijaya?ref=goodoil.news) took it upon themselves to permanently suspend Trump after the riot. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/f4/31f4e20a-0315-499e-83ff-139e8eab53bf/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/the-bfd-boomslang-twitt.jpg) Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. Previously, Twitter resisted calls to ban Trump, citing free speech. “Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate,” Twitter [wrote](https://twitter.com/Policy/status/949399583842619392?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news) in 2018\. “It would also not silence that leader, but it would certainly hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions.” As time progressed, however, the company’s views changed. Shellenberger [wrote](https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601739924276846592?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news) that Twitter employees exercised a great deal of discretion when applying “warning labels” to tweets as well as “strikes” on individual accounts. Astonishingly, he [wrote](https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601738099062558720?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news) that only one junior-level Twitter employee expressed free speech concerns over the ban “tucked away” in a “lower-level Slack channel known as ‘site-integrity-auto.’” Shellenberger [wrote](https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601725472202596352?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news) that former Twitter CEO [Jack Dorsey](https://twitter.com/jack?ref=goodoil.news) was on vacation in French Polynesia when the riot occurred and primarily delegated the company’s decision-making to Roth and Gadde. Shellenberger [ad](https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601726483004723201?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news)ded that it is important to remember that Twitter’s staff and senior executives were “overwhelmingly progressive,” linking to a graph showing that 96 per cent, 98 per cent and 99 per cent of Twitter’s staff donated to Democrats in 2018, 2020 and 2022, as NewsBusters [reported](https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/business/brian-bradley/2022/11/10/big-tech-gave-average-90-funds-dems-running-federal-office?ref=goodoil.news). While Dorsey argued that the company should remain consistent in the application of its policies, the files indicate that Roth pressured him to accept permanent suspensions. Prominent leftists [called](https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601724559836983296?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news) on Twitter to immediately suspend Trump, including former First Lady [Michelle Obama](https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-families/michelle-obama/?ref=goodoil.news), tech journalist [Kara Swisher](https://twitter.com/karaswisher?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor&ref=goodoil.news) and the [Anti-Defamation League](https://www.adl.org/?ref=goodoil.news). “On January 7, [@Jack](https://twitter.com/jack?ref=goodoil.news) emails employees saying Twitter needs to remain consistent in its policies, including the right of users to return to Twitter after a temporary suspension,” Shellenberger [wrote](https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601728399076388865?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news). “After, Roth reassures an employee that ‘people who care about this… aren’t happy with where we are.’” Roth later gleefully shared his success in persuading Dorsey to accept permanent suspensions with colleagues. “Around 11:30 am PT, Roth DMs his colleagues with news that he is excited to share,” Shellenberger [added](https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601730927583186944?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news). “‘GUESS WHAT,’ he writes. ‘Jack just approved repeat offender for civic integrity.’ The new approach would create a system where five violations (‘strikes’) would result in permanent suspension.” Shellenberger [added](https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601731730922442752?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news) that, “The exchange between Roth and his colleagues makes clear that they had been pushing [@jack](https://twitter.com/jack?ref=goodoil.news) for greater restrictions on the speech Twitter allows around elections.” The next day, Shellenberger [noted](https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601734750565040129?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news), Twitter announced its decision to permanently ban Trump from the platform, claiming the ban was justified specifically because of how “\[Trump’s tweets\] are being received & interpreted.” Twitter had previously [claimed](https://twitter.com/ShellenbergerMD/status/1601736307125862400?s=20&t=0EmOYiLctcbyiXtM5fqz-w&ref=goodoil.news) in 2019 that it would not “attempt to determine all potential interpretations of the content or its intent.” The common factor in the policy changes? Trump. In a post-COVID world, the reality that a major social media platform took it upon itself to censor a sitting president of the United States in the name of “protecting” the public is terrifying. [If you enjoyed this article please share it using the share buttons at the top or bottom of the article.](#) [If you would like to access exclusive Member content or just remove the ads to make your reading experience more enjoyable click here to browse our Membership options.](https://thebfd.co.nz/subscription-plans/?ref=2)