German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes that banning President Donald Trump from Twitter is “problematic,” her spokesman said on Jan. 11. Twitter permanently removed Trump’s account last week, saying that his recent posts were “in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy.” Trump has since been removed from several other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitch, Stripe, and Shopify. Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said that freedom of opinion is an essential right of “elementary significance.” “This fundamental right can be intervened in, but according to the law and within the framework defined by legislators—not according to a decision by the management of social media platforms,” Seibert said. “Seen from this angle, the chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the U.S. president have now been permanently blocked.” In reference to the permanent ban of the president from the platform, Twitter said in a statement: “After close review of recent Tweets from …