Sasse: Jesse Kelly and I disagree but larger trend of ‘de-platforming’ is dangerous

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Monday said that though he and former GOP congressional candidate Jesse Kelly disagree on many things, he considers Kelly’s Twitter ban to be part of a larger, dangerous pattern of “de-platforming.”

Kelly, who hosts a conservative radio show in Houston, had his Twitter account permanently suspended for unspecified reasons over the weekend, creating a wave of backlash among conservatives.

Sasse on Monday tweeted that the move by Twitter and other similar moves by other social media companies is “a bad precedent for our free speech society.”{mosads}

“Jesse Kelly can’t stand me,” Sasse tweeted. “And I think his tribal war scalping stuff is stupid and wrong.”

“But that doesn’t matter much compared to the bigger picture here: The trend of de-platforming and shutting down speech is a bad precedent for our free speech society.”

Jesse Kelly can’t stand me. And I think his tribal war scalping stuff is stupid and wrong.

But that doesn’t matter much compared to the bigger picture here: The trend of de-platforming and shutting down speech is a bad precedent for our free speech society. https://t.co/V11v6uDZY3

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) November 26, 2018

“The American answer to speech you don’t like is more speech — not less speech,” he added in a second tweet.

The American answer to speech you don’t like is more speech — not less speech. https://t.co/RGQyGJBUfJ

— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) November 26, 2018

According to Twitter’s “range of enforcement options” page, Kelly should have been given an explanation as to why he was banned.

“When we permanently suspend an account, we notify people that they have been suspended for abuse violations, and explain which policy or policies they have violated and which content was in violation,” Twitter writes.

Many on the right have long said that Twitter and other social media platforms are censoring their speech under the guise of campaigns to fight misinformation and hate speech.

Kelly has long predicted that he would eventually be booted from the platform.

“They just knew [Alex] Jones was the weak member of the herd. They could pick him off as a test run,” Kelly wrote in The Federalist in August. “Next they’re coming for you.” 

The move comes days after it was first reported by Pink News that Twitter has banned misgendering or deadnaming, which is using a person’s birth name instead of the name they go by, of transgender individuals.

Twitter declined to comment on Kelly’s ban, citing privacy and security reasons.