Twitter has announced the permanent suspension of the account of @realDonaldTrump “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” The microblogging company said the decision was taken after a close of review of recent tweets from the account.
“In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action. Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open,” Twitter wrote in a blog post on Friday.
Recall that the president’s account was temporarily suspended on the day of the Capitol Hill invasion, this time around, it seems permanent. The implication of this is that the president will not be able to reach out to his supporters via Twitter.
According to Twitter, the decision to permanently suspend @realDonaldTrump account was taken following two of his tweets, which the microblogging company claimed violated its policy.
An overview of the two tweets that led to the ban include:
On January 8, 2021, President Donald J. Trump Tweeted:
“The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”
Shortly thereafter, the President Tweeted:
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
“Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks.”
Virtually every social media company has shut out Trump, making it almost impossible for the president to reach out to his supporters. The Twitter action did not come as a surprise; as a matter of fact, some critics have been calling for such.
A couple of days ago, Instagram and its parent company Facebook extended the block on Trump’s account for another two weeks. This was announced on Twitter by Adam Mosseri via his page. What that means is that the outgoing US president will not be able to use his Instagram account until the block is lifted.
