Mexico president slams social media ‘censorship’ after chaos in U.S. Capitol

Mexico City (Reuters) – Mexico’s president on Thursday criticized social media companies for “censorship” after they temporarily locked the accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump during chaotic scenes sparked by his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

“Something I didn’t like yesterday in the business of the Capitol … I don’t like censorship,” Lopez Obrador said. “I don’t like anyone to be censored and for them to have their right taken away to send a message on Twitter or on Facebook.”

The Mexican president, who was speaking at a regular news conference, did not mention Trump by name.

Twitter Inc, Facebook Inc and Snap Inc suspended Trump’s accounts as they scrambled to curb his baseless claims about the U.S. presidential election amid the chaos in Washington. Facebook on Thursday said it was extending the suspension on his accounts for at least the next two weeks.

Pro-Trump protesters had stormed the Capitol in an attempt to force Congress to block the appointment of President-elect Joe Biden. Police said four people died during the chaos – one from gunshot wounds and three from medical emergencies.

Some Lopez Obrador critics were already complaining he had not been forceful enough in condemning what had occurred in the Capitol when asked to comment earlier in the news conference.

“We’re not going to intervene in these matters, which are up to the Americans to resolve, to deal with. That’s our policy, that’s what I can say,” he said then.

But he expressed regret that lives had been lost and said he had always believed that conflicts, whether they were in Mexico or abroad, should be resolved “via dialogue and peaceful means”.

“We hope there will be peace, that democracy, which is the people’s power, will prevail, and that there are liberties,” said Lopez Obrador, who in 2006 led massive, peaceful protests in Mexico claiming that he had been robbed of the presidency.