The Former President’s Free Speech Should No Longer Trump Democracy

Anika Collier Navaroli is a Senior Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University. Former President Donald Trump addressed media before a second day of testimony in a civil fraud trial at New York State Court on October 25, 2023. Lev Radin/Shutterstock Former President Donald Trump has been warned that his posts on Truth Social, the social media company run by Trump Media & Technology Group, could potentially incite violence or intimidate witnesses. After Trump did not heed judges’ warnings, they imposed gag orders, one of which was temporarily lifted this month, on First Amendment grounds. Trump is once again towing the line with his speech, much like the last election. This time, however, it’s not happening on Twitter, where I worked as a senior policy official. Rather, it’s playing out in the courtrooms where Trump faces nearly 100 criminal counts, in addition to a civil fraud trial. Given that nearly one in four Americans believe political violence may be justified to save democracy, this sentiment, along with Trump’s inciting speech, is a dangerous and potentially deadly combination. But there are lessons to be learned from the saga of Trump’s speech on Twitter that can help point us toward a better future.  First, Trump should not be given special treatment by courts. For years, Twitter was accused of giving Trump preferential treatment on its platform. When I came forward as a Twitter whistleblower, I confirmed these allegations for the first time. According to my testimony to Congress,…The Former President’s Free Speech Should No Longer Trump Democracy