What Bill Gates Thinks Of Donald Trump's Social Media Ban

2021 has so far been a tumultuous year for former President Donald Trump. After losing the 2020 Presidential election to Joe Biden in November, Trump turned to spreading false information about the election in an effort to convince voters that it was rigged. From claiming that there were more "votes than voters" in Pennsylvania to flat-out stating that he "won" the election (both claims have been debunked by AP News), Trump has weaponized disinformation — and Twitter was one of his favorite places to do so.

While Twitter initially flagged Trump's falsehoods about the election, the social media platform eventually suspended Trump's account altogether following the US Capitol insurrection that took place on Jan. 6, 2021. In the days following Trump's Twitter ban, other social media platforms eventually banned the former president as well; Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube are just a few of the many platforms Trump is banned from, per The Washington Post. Some people rejoiced over Trump's ban, whereas others claimed that it was an infringement on free speech. 

As it turns out, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has an opinion about Trump's ban. Keep reading to learn more about whether or not he wants to see the former president return to social media someday.

While some people want Donald Trump's social media ban to last forever, Bill Gates has a slightly different opinion. During an interview with CNBC, Gates gave his two cents about the social media ban, saying that he thinks "at some point [Trump] probably will be allowed back on and probably should be allowed back on." While Gates thinks that Trump should be allowed back on social media at some point, he does also acknowledge that Trump's claims about a "stolen election" were "weird" and "corrosive." Because Trump used social media to spread information, Gates notes that if Trump does return to social media "his stuff may be labeled as false in a lot of cases."

Despite the fact that Trump's social media posts garnered a lot of attention (both good and bad), Gates also thinks that Trump's social media return may encourage people to become less interested in what he has to say. "In a way, people's interest in what [Trump] says may go down quite a bit," Gates explained in his interview. "That'll be interesting to watch." 

Only time will tell if Trump's social media ban ever gets lifted — but, if he does, it's safe to say that people will have plenty of opinions about that, too.