Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said on Thursday that social media companies should allow President Trump to return to their platforms, despite his “corrosive” allegations of electoral fraud.
Twitter separated the former president from around 88 million followers after the deadly riot on January 6, when a group of Trump supporters invaded the Capitol while Congress certified President Biden’s victory, leaving five people, including an official US Capitol Police officers killed. At the time, Twitter said that Trump’s tweets represented “the risk of further incitement to violence”.
Facebook, Snapchat and Reddit also suspended Trump’s online presence indefinitely after the siege.
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Gates, asked during an interview with CNBC whether he would allow Trump to return to social media if he were a member of Facebook’s supervisory board, suggested he would.
“I think at some point he will probably be allowed to come back and probably should be allowed to come back,” said the billionaire philanthropist.
Gates suggested that if social media companies allow Trump to return, they could include a warning tag on any false statements he makes.
“It’s weird when you’re, you know, saying that the election was stolen without any facts. And how corrosive that is,” said Gates. “But I bet they’ll find a way to let you back.”
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Democrats and a handful of Republicans have accused Trump of inciting the attack on the Capitol by refusing to accept the results of the November election and spreading unfounded conspiracy theories about electoral fraud.
House Democrats, accompanied by 10 Republicans, impeached Trump on January 13. The Senate voted 53-47 to acquit the former president on Saturday.
“You know, in a way … people’s interest in what he says may diminish a little,” added Gates. “This is going to be interesting to watch.”
Since being banned from Twitter and other social media sites, Trump has generated far fewer headlines. He gave his first post-presidential interview during Fox News’ “Outnumbered” on Wednesday after the death of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.
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