LettersTwitter, Facebook right to stop Trump’s dangerous use of free speech

I have been surprised at the extent of criticism of Twitter and Facebook for closing US President Donald Trump’s accounts with them (“Trump Twitter ban reminds of Big Tech’s censorship powers”, January 13).

There must be some limits to free speech, as was established in the Schenck v United States case in 1919. US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes cited “falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic” as an example of speech that should not be protected. This principle surely applies even to a country’s president.  

Social media platforms are under fire for a number of important reasons right now, though it does not seem to have stopped billions of people from continuing to use them. One of those reasons is that they should take some responsibility for what is posted on their sites. This is what they have just done.