Deplatforming Backfired
23rd December 2025
When Donald Trump was kicked off social media in 2021, liberal pundit Matthew Yglesias tweeted, “It’s kinda weird that deplatforming Trump just like completely worked with no visible downside whatsoever.” Two years later, Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D–N.Y.) celebrated that “deplatforming works,” though she worried about the long-term implications.
“I also kind of feel like I’m waiting for the cut scene at the end of a Marvel movie after all the credits have rolled, and then you like see the villain’s hand reemerge,” said Ocasio-Cortez.
As it turns out, every major star gets a sequel. Trump is back in the White House, and Carlson has a bigger audience than ever before.
What we’ve learned is that deplatforming doesn’t work.