LAST UPDATE | 9 Jan 2021
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has been permanently suspended from Twitter due to “the risk of further incitement of violence”.
The social media giant also deleted tweets sent from the US presidential Twitter account after the ban.
“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said.
“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.”
Trump’s account was temporarily locked during the week after the social media platform found him to be repeatedly violating its policies following Wednesday night’s riot at the US Capitol building in Washington DC.
Trump returned to Twitter late Thursday, posting a video message that seemed aimed at calming tensions after the mayhem caused by his supporters.
He acknowledged his presidency was ending and promised a smooth transition to Joe Biden, although he did not go so far as to congratulate or even say the name of his successor.
Shortly after Twitter permanently suspended the president’s personal @realdonaldtrump account, he fired off tweets from the @POTUS presidential account accusing the company of being in cahoots with the “Radical Left.” The tweets were quickly deleted.
“Using another account to try to evade a suspension is against our rules,” Twitter told AFP. “We have taken steps to enforce this with regard to recent Tweets from the @POTUS account.”
Twitter said at the time it was continuing to watch Trump’s social media activity to determine whether further action was needed.
The decision to suspend Trump’s account came after a pair of tweets today.
Earlier today, 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!!!”
He then tweeted: “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
Twitter said that due to the ongoing tensions in the US and the recent storming of the US Capitol, both 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”.
Following an assessment of the language used in the tweets, Twitter concluded they were in violation of its glorification of violence policy “and the user @realDonaldTrump should be immediately permanently suspended from the service”.
“As such, our determination is that the two Tweets above are likely to inspire others to replicate the violent acts that took place on January 6, 2021, and that there are multiple indicators that they are being received and understood as encouragement to do so.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say