Following a massive banning spree from social media platforms of people they don’t like, President Trump’s personal account was thrown into the mix.
In a statement on its official blog, Twitter announced, “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
Twitter added, “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.” The company added that accounts such as Donald Trump’s “are not above our rules entirely and cannot use Twitter to incite violence, among other things.”
Specifically, Twitter cited two tweets from Trump on January 8, 2021. The first reads:
“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 diresepcted or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”
as well as a follow-up tweet from Trump in which he announced he will not attend President-Elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20.
Other social media services like Facebook and Instagram, as well as Twitch, have suspended or disabled Trump’s official accounts at least until the U.S. Presidential inauguration on January 20. Twitch has similarly cited the risk of further violence as a reason for suspending Trump’s Twitch account.
