By Alex Solari, Staff Writer
On January 28, 2017, Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, tweeted out to those affected by Trump’s ban in the United States. He tweeted, “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada.”
Clearly this is referencing Trump’s “Muslim ban,” which is a 90-day ban that stops anyone from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya, or Yemen from entering the United States.
From this statement, it’s obvious that Trudeau is against this ban, along with a tweet saying “#ACanadianIsACanadian” and a picture posted of him greeting a Syrian child at the Toronto airport on Twitter.
Though I agree with Trudeau about his view on the Muslim ban, I don’t think him posting it on Twitter was the right way to go about this. Why is Twitter becoming a way politicians communicate with citizens? If Trudeau was so serious about the inclusion of others, why didn’t he make a speech or formal notice about this?
Politicians using social media to communicate with citizens has been a trend for quite some years now, but became most prominent with Donald Trump and his famous tweets.
I believe that sometimes this means of communication is acceptable and may even be helpful to find common ground between leaders and ordinary citizens.
But when tweets turn into empty promises, and sometimes utter lies, Twitter can become dangerous. Though Trudeau’s statement isn’t exactly dangerous, since it is true that all people, regardless of their religion, are allowed in Canada, Trudeau could have been more official with this important statement.
Though I find these tweets unprofessional, I don’t think this was the intention of Trudeau. Justin Trudeau has only been the Prime Minister of Canada for about a year, and is only 45 years old.
As a young, new Prime Minister, he is probably trying to keep up with the trends and communicate with citizens through the site.
However, there are many examples of politicians using Twitter that have gone wrong, and these incidents should serve as a reminder that posting on this site isn’t always the best idea.
One of these incidents include Donald Trump’s entire Twitter page. All joking aside, there are many tweets Trump has put out that are simply untrue, and can persuade people by spewing utter lies.
One tweet in particular that Trump put out said, “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.”
First off, this is clearly something he should not have been tweeting about in the first place, since this is quite a claim to make over a social media outlet. But more importantly, Trump has absolutely no evidence to prove this, which further proves how unreliable Trump is and how unreliable sources from Twitter can be.
Another way politicians have used Twitter is to argue with other politicians, or anyone else who shows opposition to them. Of course, this is incredibly unprofessional, but it also can spread misinformation and cause people to make judgments that are unfair and poorly researched.
I believe that politicians should not be using Twitter to make big statements or to fight with one another.
Although I completely agree with Trudeau’s statements on Trump’s “Muslim Ban,” I think there were better ways to go about this that could avoid social media.
However, I think that those who are not able to enter the United States at this time should consider Canada as an option if necessary, and I think that Justin Trudeau has proved himself to be a strong and compassionate leader.
I can only hope that Trump starts showing these qualities during his decision making.