Milo Yiannopoulos was banned permanently from Twitter this summer for his string of racist abuse targeting the Ghostbusters actor Leslie Jones.
George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012, was suspended in 2015 for posting topless photos of a woman he said was his ex-girlfriend and shared what he claimed were her email address and phone number.
Now House of Cards creator Beau Willimon has written an open tweet, pleading with Twitter to delete President Donald Trump's Twitter account.
Willimon charged that Trump’s Twitter presence poses a “national security threat,” adding that it “emboldens our enemies to take advantage of his flagrant shortcomings.”
Willimon noted that Twitter is “amazing” and that it “connects the world.” But he said, “That comes with its own responsibility: to "do your part in protecting that world.” Willimon has also used his stature to form the Action Group Network to resist Trump and move "the country progressively forward after a divisive election."
Here is his argument, laid out in 16 tweets.
1. Today's tantrum is just the latest example of why @realDonaldTrump & @POTUS must be removed from @Twitter. Here's my full argument...
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
2. Only one person on @Twitter is President of the United States. That comes with a supreme and unique responsibility unlike any other user.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
3. What the President tweets has real and significant impact on the business of governance, world affairs and national security.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
4. President Trump has consistently made misleading claims, attacked the judiciary and threatened sovereign states, the press & public.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
5. His tweets recklessly bypass diplomatic channels without consultation from the State Department, IC or the Pentagon.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
6. Even as a private citizen it is arguable that he has violated Twitter rules regarding violent threats, harassment and hateful conduct.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
7. Certainly in the unique position of @POTUS the repercussions and intimations his tweets cross these lines.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
8. Today's outburst is broadcasting to foreign leaders his continuing impulsiveness, recklessness, delusion & ignorance about gov't.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
9. That makes @RealDonaldTrump's tweets a national security threat. It emboldens our enemies to take advantage of his flagrant shortcomings.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
10. For those who would argue that the removal of his account is a violation of free speech, consider this...
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
11. The WH has retaliated against the press by selectively locking them out, called them "the enemy of the people" & ignored hard questions.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
12. But with his behavior on this service, Trump makes the argument for himself being a liability to the people.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
13. The President is free to say whatever he wants, and has many of ways of doing so, but no private company owes him an outlet.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
14. While you cannot prevent the President from saying reckless things elsewhere, @Twitter is not obligated to facilitate that here.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
15. In fact, with your worldwide reach & impact on the media, you have a duty to steer clear of accounts facilitating nat'l security threats
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
16. @Twitter is amazing. It connects the world. That comes with its own responsibility: to do your part in protecting that world.
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) March 4, 2017
/Thread
As for the what constitutes a ban or suspension on Twitter, the Washington Post detailed these general rules following the exit of Yiannopoulos from the platform.
"Twitter doesn’t generally comment on questions about individual accounts, citing privacy and security reasons. Users who are perma-banned from Twitter are, as a practice, not told which tweets of theirs prompted the ban — only that they are banned, that their accounts will not be restored, and which part of Twitter’s rules the company says were violated."
Twitter also does not have publicly available guidelines for the threshold for a permanent ban; it only states in its rules against abusive behavior that “any accounts and related accounts engaging in the activities specified below may be temporarily locked and/or subject to permanent suspension.”
There's been no word yet from Twitter about if they will grant Willimon's request. So far, there's been no move to remove either POTUS's official or personal accounts from its roughly 319 million monthly active users.
While we wait to see how and if Twitter responds, we have a date for when House of Cards will resume on Netflix. Variety noted that the show would return May 30.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Lego Immortalizes NASA Women With Our New Favorite Toy
Pretty Little Liars Stars Welcome Their First Baby
Definitive Proof That Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel Are Stronger Than Ever