On Friday, January 8, The American Civil Liberties Union, a staunch free speech advocate, issued a statement expressing concern over President Trump's recent removal from Twitter.
ACLU released a statement condemning Big Tech’s censorship of Trump. https://t.co/GVxOfKpmzX— Ian Miles Cheong (@Ian Miles Cheong)1610165029.0
Actress Kirstie Alley shared the ACLU's statement in a now-deleted tweet in which she went further, comparing Trump's removal to "slavery."
In the deleted tweet, Alley wrote:
"ALL people should be concerned is the KEY here. It's true, the average person will no longer have a platform to speak their views. This is called SLAVERY. This censorship proves BIG TECH now holds the keys to the chains."
No, Kirstie Alley, SLAVERY was when Africans and their descendants were OWNED, stripped of freedom, extracted of t… https://t.co/aYjm2l4ypp— Bishop Talbert Swan (@Bishop Talbert Swan)1610209348.0
On Twitter, the backlash against Alley's tweet was immediate and intense.
@kirstiealley No. This is a shocking minimization of the sheer vicious brutality of real slavery. Children were sol… https://t.co/RkOsRyWdot— Patricia Arquette (@Patricia Arquette)1610217651.0
Likening Trump's necessary social media ban to slavery, is just another reason Kirstie Alley is a terrible human be… https://t.co/BeSguK9ExB— Tynisa the Cynical Gen X Witch Walker (@Tynisa the Cynical Gen X Witch Walker)1610250690.0
Why do white folks always compare their minor inconveniences to SLAVERY? “Her choice of words prompted a backlash… https://t.co/cPdyFKFFvw— Bishop Talbert Swan (@Bishop Talbert Swan)1610295755.0
Alley wrote another post seeming to defend her initial insensitivity.
There is more than one definition of the word slavery .. there is the well known one but the one I refer to a lot i… https://t.co/xGVok4cVfx— Kirstie Alley (@Kirstie Alley)1610250451.0
But @kirstiealley I thought you were a slave now, how did you delete your ignorant tweet?? 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻 https://t.co/TYbqg3Ab5l— Kate🗽☮️🇺🇸⚖️🏳️🌈🧘🏻♀️♍️💙 (@Kate🗽☮️🇺🇸⚖️🏳️🌈🧘🏻♀️♍️💙)1610261709.0
@kirstiealley If you don’t know what slavery means you can just say that— Roman (@Roman)1610250911.0
Apparently, Alley doesn't take freedom of speech quite as seriously as she claims.
Kirstie Alley - “Freedom of speech!” Also Kirstie Alley - https://t.co/YVb1kAD6DL— gameoftones (@gameoftones)1610273093.0
Kirstie Alley: “Don’t silence people!” Also, Kirstie Alley: https://t.co/JjzK3Jm2RS— Mike Denison (@Mike Denison)1610240090.0
Alley has continued to tweet, comparing the violence storming and breach at the Capitol with law enforcement arresting and dispersing protesters outside a federal building in July while insisting no one should be removed from social media platforms.
Remember this? Remember all the fires, killing, terrorizing, destruction and yes, at FEDERAL buildings? It was HIDE… https://t.co/sQXM3pGZvk— Kirstie Alley (@Kirstie Alley)1610197777.0
I think some people have confused the words impeachment and peaches. I agree we should all call for more peaches.— Kirstie Alley (@Kirstie Alley)1610198170.0
Breaching the CAPITOL was a treasonous criminal terrifying act and those people should be prosecuted to the full ex… https://t.co/vhfW7vNGtd— Kirstie Alley (@Kirstie Alley)1610202513.0
Many on Twitter couldn't wait to point out what was wrong with Alley's point of view.
Booop.... definitely not the same. 😐 Damn and I kinda liked @kirstiealley #ShowYourColors https://t.co/Kvgi4EWaJy— Yooo Q aka Melquan B (@Yooo Q aka Melquan B)1610288745.0
@TalbertSwan It’s funny how Conservatives are saying that big tech censoring them from invoking insurrection is SLA… https://t.co/lmJiOJz0U4— Full of Fire (@Full of Fire)1610210084.0
@TalbertSwan These people are so desperate to be the victims. If they were actually victims, they couldn't handle it.— Aaron (@Aaron)1610209459.0
Obviously, being removed from Twitter is absolutely nothing like slavery. Kirstie Alley, who has never experienced either of these things, would probably do well to remember that.