US President Donald Trump has been permanently suspended from Twitter “due to the risk of further incitement of violence“, the company says.
Twitter giving a reason for the decision said;
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.
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.
Twitter’s decision followed two tweets by Trump on Friday afternoon that would end up being his last.
The tweets violated the company’s policy against glorification of violence, Twitter said, adding;
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.
The first tweet was about Trump’s supporters, where he said;
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!!!
The second indicated Trump did not plan to attend Joe Biden‘s inauguration, saying;
To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.
Read Also: I Won’t Attend Biden’s Inauguration Ceremony – Trump
Twitter said the tweet concerning inauguration could be viewed as a further statement that the election was not legitimate.
It also expressed that the tweet could be interpreted as Trump saying that the inauguration would be a “safe” target for violence because he would not be attending.
Twitter’s ban specifically addresses “the @realDonaldTrump account,” not Trump personally.
The tech company will enforce its policy against ban evasions to ensure that Trump does not circumvent his personal account’s suspension, the company told CNN.
Twitter in a statement said;
If it is clear that another account is being used for the purposes of evading a ban, it is also subject to suspension. For government accounts, such as @POTUS (President Of The United States) and @WhiteHouse, we will not suspend those accounts but will take action to limit their use. However, these accounts will be transitioned over to the new administration in due course and will not be suspended by Twitter unless absolutely necessary to alleviate real-world harm.
Twitter’s policy would also prohibit Trump from directing a third party to operate a Twitter account on his behalf.
The US President sought to test Twitter’s ban evasion policy on Friday evening, when he or someone acting on his behalf published four tweets from the @POTUS account.
However, the tweets were removed from the platform as soon as they were posted.
Trump was earlier locked out of his account for 12 hours on Wednesday after he called the people who stormed the US Capitol “patriots”. He was warned about getting a permanent suspension, which he ended up receiving.
Read Also: US Election Result: 4 Dead, 52 Arrested After Trump’s Supporters Invaded US Capitol
Hundreds of his supporters entered the complex as the US Congress attempted to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. The ensuing violence led to the deaths of four civilians and a police officer.
Twitter’s action comes amid a tech company purge of online platforms used by Trump and his supporters.
Google suspended Parler – a self-styled “free speech” rival to Twitter that is increasingly popular with Trump supporters – from its online store.
The company said;
We’re aware of continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the US.
Read Also: Trump Banned From Facebook, Instagram For Two Weeks – Zuckerberg
On Thursday, Facebook said it had suspended Trump “indefinitely“. Popular gaming platform Twitch also placed an indefinite ban on the outgoing president’s channel, which he has used for rally broadcasts. So has Snapchat.
