Last week, Twitter announced that President Trump’s account had been permanently suspended, citing a “risk of further incitement of violence.”
“After a close review of recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account,” Twitter said in a statement issued Friday evening.
After news of the ban broke, Twitter users were quick to point out the apparent hypocrisy in the platform’s decision, noting how the accounts of numerous individuals who’ve openly advocated for violence — and in some cases acted on it — have remained untouched.
Here are just a few:
Ayatollah Khamenei (@khamenei_ir)
Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, has openly tweeted his desire to destroy Israel, calling it a “cancerous growth” that must be “uprooted and destroyed.” More recently, the Supreme Leader has implied that the United States could be sharing COVID-19 vaccines abroad in order to “contaminate other nations.”
Following the U.S. air raid that killed Iranian General Soleimani, Khamenei said that Iran, “will never forget this and will certainly deal a reciprocal blow to the United States.”
Despite the fact that Khamenei and his oppressive regime have banned Twitter in Iran, his account remains active for the rest of the world to see.
In June of this year, Twitter responded to calls for Khamenei’s suspension, saying his tweets “fall into the category of foreign policy saber-rattling on economic or military issues.”
Zabiullah Mujahid (@Zabehulah_M33)
You may not know his name, but you certainly know the organization he represents. Mujahid is a spokesman for the Taliban, an organization who have gone far beyond violent words, committing heinous acts of terror in the name of radical Islam, killing thousands of innocent people — including American troops and citizens.
Mujahid’s account has amassed over 147,000 followers, and his account appears free of any “fact checks” or warnings from Twitter admins.
The page regularly touts Taliban exploits, praising the Mujahideen and celebrating raids and other violent attacks within Afghanistan.
For example, one of Mujahid’s recent tweets bragged about new members who’d joined the terrorist organization. “25 soldiers, police, and [government officials], realizing the facts and efforts of recruitment officials, resigned and joined the Mujahideen.”
Louis Farrakhan (@LouisFarrakhan)
Louis Farrakhan, perhaps the most famous anti-semite in America today, still has an active Twitter account, despite routinely comparing Jews to “termites,” among other things.
Farrakhan, head of the notorious “Nation of Islam,” tweeted in 2018, “I am not anti-semite. I am anti-termite.”
Though Twitter removed the “verified” check from his account following a tweet about “the Satanic Jew and the Synagogue of Satan,” his account still remains active and public.
Chinese Embassy In The U.S. (@ChineseEmbinUS)
You may not know it, but the Chinese Embassy in the United States has their own verified Twitter account with over 78,000 followers. Their account is routinely used to spread Chinese Communist Party propaganda on behalf of President Xi Jingping.
This week, they used Twitter to defend China’s use of concentration camps in part of their ongoing genocide against the Uyghurs.
“The minds of Uygur women in Xinjiang were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines,” the account tweeted, before saying the victims are, “more confident and independent.”
While the tweet has since been deleted, the account has not.
New York City Antifa Account (@NYCAntifa)
For all their talk of restricting those “promoting violence,” Twitter still allows Antifa accounts full access to the platform, despite their “by any means necessary” slogan and their use of violent rhetoric and tactics.
The account routinely “doxes” individuals deemed “Nazis” — in other words, anyone on the Right — sharing photos and personal information in an attempt to intimidate and coerce.
The page also reposts photos and videos of “fascists” being attacked on the street and at protests, with gleeful captions.
Nicolas Maduro (@NicolasMaduro)
Despite running his country into the ground and killing or jailing anyone who stood in his way, Nicolas Maduro — best known as the human rights abusing, socialism loving, dictator of Venezuela — still enjoys the use of his Twitter account.
Throughout the week, he can be seen using the platform to spread propaganda in support of his murderous regime, all while his starving citizens languish in poverty.
Though the United Nations has labeled Maduro one of the worst human rights abusers on Earth, with his continual crimes being well-documented, his Twitter account remains untouched.
Kathy Griffin (@KathyGriffin)
Kathy Griffin, the “comedian” turned wannabe political activist, is now perhaps best known for a photo she posted holding a bloody replica of Donald Trump’s decapitated head.
Evidently, pretending to hold the severed head of the President of the United States doesn’t violate Twitter’s policy on the “glorification of violence.”
Griffin initially apologized for the gruesome photoshoot, but eventually doubled down, reposting the image on election night in November. While Twitter flagged the tweet as containing “potentially sensitive content,” they allowed it to stay and have taken no further action against Griffin’s account.
Cabot Phillips is Managing Editor of The Daily Wire’s Readers Pass. Follow him on Twitter at @cabot_phillips
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.