After actor/comedian Sacha Baron Cohen called upon YouTube to join Twitter and Facebook in banning President Trump, several Hollywood celebrities, from Mark Ruffalo to Mark Hamill, have echoed the call.
“Virtually every social media company has removed Trump…EXCEPT YouTube. Trump’s YouTube channel is STILL showing videos of his election lies to MILLIONS of people!” Cohen tweeted last Saturday and tagged YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki as well as Google CEO Sundar Pichai in the post.
Virtually every social media company has removed Trump…EXCEPT YouTube.
Trump's YouTube channel is STILL showing videos of his election lies to MILLIONS of people!
Retweet and tell @Google, @sundarpichai, @YouTube, @SusanWojcicki–do the right thing! #BanTrumpSaveDemocracy pic.twitter.com/GHiUJqnTbw
— Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) January 11, 2021
“[Sundar Pichai] [Susan Wojcicki] @YouTube is still showing videos of Donald Trump’s blatant lies. Your platform is still allowing misinformation to spread like wildfire. Do the right thing & #BanTrumpSaveDemocracy,” tweeted Mark Ruffalo.
“This is a public safety issue. Trump and YouTube are radicalizing people to violence,” he added.
This is a public safety issue. Trump and YouTube are radicalizing people to violence. https://t.co/smzevI56T4
It's real and here is a Pod Cast about how it happens.— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 11, 2021
“To stay silent is to be complicit in his madness,” tweeted Mark Hamill.
To stay silent is to be complicit in his madness.#BanTrumpSaveDemocracy https://t.co/T6mKniV1s8
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 8, 2021
“The atrocities at the Capitol yesterday were four years in the making. It’s been four years of Trump condoning, justifying and CELEBRATING violent acts. FOUR YEARS. A 12 hour suspension is not enough @jack. RT to save democracy. #BanTrumpSaveDemocracy. tweeted Kerry Washington.
The atrocities at the Capitol yesterday were four years in the making. It’s been four years of Trump condoning, justifying and CELEBRATING violent acts. FOUR YEARS. A 12 hour suspension is not enough @jack. RT to save democracy. #BanTrumpSaveDemocracy
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) January 7, 2021
“It’s time, @youtube. Ban Trump. #BanTrumpSaveDemocracy.” tweeted Adam Scott.
It’s time, @youtube. Ban Trump. #BanTrumpSaveDemocracy https://t.co/hv1Ej5XovO
— Adam Scott (@mradamscott) January 12, 2021
“You are the only social media company still amplifying #Trump‘s lies and Seditious calls to action!” tweeted Debra Messing.
.@YOUTUBE HEY! You are the only social media company still amplifying #Trump's lies and Seditious calls to action!
PLEASE 🚨Retweet🚨 and tell @Google, @sundarpichai, @YouTube, @SusanWojcicki–do the right thing! #BanTrumpSaveDemocracy https://t.co/8oWJ4qa27Q— Debra Messing✍🏻 (@DebraMessing) January 11, 2021
Over the weekend, after Twitter purged Trump’s personal account from its platform, Cohen praised it as a seismic moment.
“This is the most important moment in the history of social media. The world’s largest platforms have banned the world’s biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate. To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this–the entire world thanks you!” tweeted Cohen.
After Twitter removed Trump’s personal account from its platform, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) — no friend of Trump — expressed concern about Big Tech’s power to silence people in the future.
“For months, President Trump has been using social media platforms to seed doubt about the results of the election and to undermine the will of voters. We understand the desire to permanently suspend him now, but it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield the unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions — especially when political realities make those decisions easier. President Trump can turn to his press team or Fox News to communicate with the public, but others — like the many Black, Brown, and LGBTQ activists who have been censored by social media companies – will not have that luxury. It is our hope that these companies will apply their rules transparently to everyone,” the ACLU wrote.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced Twitter’s ban violated a “fundamental right.”
“This fundamental right can be intervened in, but according to the law and within the framework defined by legislators — not according to a decision by the management of social media platforms,” said Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert. “Seen from this angle, the chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the U.S. president have now been permanently blocked.”
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was equally distressed with the purge, saying it crossed a line and sets a dangerous precedent.
“I don’t like anybody being censored or taking away from the right to post a message on Twitter or Face(book). I don’t agree with that, I don’t accept that,” López Obrador said on Thursday.
“How can you censor someone: ‘Let’s see, I, as the judge of the Holy Inquisition, will punish you because I think what you’re saying is harmful,’” he added. “Where is the law, where is the regulation, what are the norms? This is an issue of government, this is not an issue for private companies.”
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