German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL believes that the decision by social media giants to permanently suspend US President DONALD TRUMP’s accounts is problematic because freedom of opinion should not be determined by such online platforms.

In a statement issued by her spokesman STEFFEN SEIBERT, MERKEL argued that the fundamental right to freedom of opinion is a right of elementary importance.

MERKEL added that if the freedom of opinion is to be interfered with, it must be through the law and within the framework defined by the legislature, and not according to the decision of the management of social media platforms.