German Chancellor Angela Merkel calls Donald Trump's Twitter eviction 'problematic'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has termed US President Donald Trump’s suspension from Twitter as ‘problematic’. Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert said that the operators of the microblogging platform "bear great responsibility for political communication not being poisoned by hatred, by lies and by incitement to violence." However, he also said that it is not right to stand back when one posts such content.

The German Chancellor's spokesperson termed freedom of opinion as a fundamental right of "elementary significance". He said that this right can only be intervened by the law and within the framework of legislators and not by social media. Seibert said, "Seen from this angle, the chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the U.S. president have now been permanently blocked." 

Read: Virus Collides With Politics As German Election Year Starts

Trump suspended from Twitter 

Twitter suspended Trump's account permanently in the wake of the US Capitol riots last week. Twitter said, "After reviewing of tweets from the Donald Trump account and the context around them — how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence." Before suspending the account, Twitter had warned Trump and said that additional violations of rules could result in suspension. 

Read: German Chancellor Merkel Hands Over EU Presidency To Portugal

However, following his personal account suspension, Trump used the @POTUS account to suggest that he and his team were looking at the possibility of "building out own platform in the near future." In the now-deleted tweets, Trump thanked "75,000,000 great patriots" who voted for him adding that their voice won’t be silenced. In his comments, the outgoing US President also accused Twitter of conspiring with Democrats and radicals to suppress freedom of speech. 

Trump also highlighted Section 230, which protects social media from civil liabilities, stating without it Twitter wouldn’t exist for long. The microblogging platform was quick to react and immediately deleted all the tweets. However, the tweets were already doing rounds of the internet by then. 

Read: 'Everything Should Be Done To Get Brexit Deal',says German Chancellor Merkel

Also Read: Algeria Leader Back To Germany For COVID-19-linked Treatment

(Image Credits: AP/Pixabay)