Former President Donald Trump? No. But a top Taliban spokesman? Sure, no problem.
Twitter is taking heat for banning the former president while allowing Zabihullah Mujahid to use the social media platform to tweet updates on “military units” entering Kabul, Afghanistan. He recently wrote that their “advance is continuing normally.”
Jerome Riviere, a French politician, took to Twitter to post: “Freedom and democracy are not doing well when #Twitter continues to ban #Trump’s account but relays the #Taliban spokesperson’s without any second thoughts,” according to Fox News.
Mujahid’s account is not verified but appears authentic. He has more than 287,000 followers and is regularly cited by major news outlets.
Twitter permanently suspended Trump on Jan. 8, two days after a riot at the U.S. Capitol. Trump had 80 million followers at the time, but Twitter said it took the action because allowing him to tweet would increase the risk of “further incitement of violence.”
Twitter cited a tweet from the former president on Jan. 8 that read: “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!”
Trump has still been vocal about the situation, calling for Biden to “resign in disgrace.”
“It is time for Joe Biden to resign in disgrace for what he has allowed to happen to Afghanistan, along with the tremendous surge in COVID, the Border catastrophe, the destruction of energy independence, and our crippled economy,” the former president wrote in a statement on Sunday.
“Can anyone even imagine taking out our Military before evacuating civilians and others who have been good to our Country and who should be allowed to seek refuge? In addition, these people left topflight and highly sophisticated equipment. Who can believe such incompetence? Under my Administration, all civilians and equipment would have been removed,” Trump said on Monday.
Several people posted tweets supposedly written by Mujahid, whose bio says, “Official Twitter Account of the Spokesman of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
“Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says in order to prevent looting and chaos their forces will enter some parts of Kabul and occupy outposts that have been evacuated by security forces. He asks the people to not panic from their entrance into the city,” wrote one person.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says in order to prevent looting and chaos their forces will enter some parts of Kabul and occupy outposts that have been evacuated by security forces.
He asks the people to not panic from their entrance into the city.
— Shafi Karimi (@karimi_shafi) August 15, 2021
Republicans blasted Twitter.
“The Taliban Spokesman has a Twitter account without any problem. Meanwhile, President Trump is banned from the platform,’ tweeted Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY). “Something is very wrong here.”
“Why on God’s green Earth does the Taliban spokesman have an active Twitter account but not the former President of the United States?” asked Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC). “Who’s side is the AMERICA BASED Big-Tech companies on?” he added.
Adrian Hilton, a conservative academic and lecturer on political philosophy in Britain, also pointed out the double standards.
“Twitter banned Donald Trump for expressing support for rioters who stormed the US Capitol. Twitter permitted the Taliban official spokesman to live-tweet Mujahideen terror, the acquisition of arms, storming the Afghanistan capital, and the occupation of the presidential palace,” he wrote, according to the Daily Mail.