Twitter permanently banned Donald Trump's account on Friday as the social network warned the president's tweets could risk inciting further violence after him whipped up a mob that invaded the Capitol earlier this week. The short message app said it had found plans for armed actions on its platform before the inauguration on January 20.
Twitter took the highly unusual move after it concluded that Trump's latest tweets posed a public safety risk and could lead to more chaos. The president's account, which had over 88 million followers, was temporarily banned Wednesday from a series of tweets questioning former Vice President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.
The social network found that the president's latest tweets carried the risk of additional violence.
"After carefully examining the last tweets from the @realDonaldTrump Account and the context around it, we have permanently banned the account due to the risk of further incitement to violence, "said Twitter in a tweet that included a link to a blog post explaining the action." Plans for future armed protests have already begun to proliferate on and off Twitter, including a planned secondary attack on the US Capitol and US Capitol buildings on January 17, 2021, "the post said.
The move from Twitter that followed a similar block from Facebook, comes as the country stumbles on the Capitol after a chaotic attack on Wednesday. The hand-to-hand combat, which killed five people, followed a nearby Trump rally and came as Congress gathered to confirm the results of the heated presidential election. The attack halted the count, although it resumed and concluded after law enforcement cleared the Capitol of rioters.
Twitter had refused to close Trump's account because his role as president makes his words of public concern. However, the company faced increased pressure to permanently suspend the president's account after his unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud turned into violence on Capitol Hill, and this move marks the toughest reprimand yet. Twitter employees criticized the company for failing to act and wrote a letter to CEO Jack Dorsey and other company executives calling for an investigation into the social network's role in the riot, according to The Washington Post.
For years, critics have been calling on Twitter to ban Trump. The president has broken the rules of the social network in the past, but the company either left, labeled, or checked the tweets behind a notice of public interest that allowed users to click a button to read the tweets . For example, in 2017, Trump tweeted about a threat North Korea. Although Twitter has rules against violent threats, it said that the timeliness of the tweet deserves it to stay on the social network. As of January 6, Twitter flagged five of Trump's tweets for containing unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud.
On Friday, Twitter said two of the president's tweets broke the rules against the glorification of violence and asked the company to ban it. "In connection with terrible events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter rules would possibly lead to exactly this course of action," the company said in a tweet.
In a blog post Twitter stated that two of Trump's tweets released on Friday violated its rules against the glorification of violence. In one of the tweets, Trump said he would not attend Biden's inauguration on January 20. In the other tweet, Trump said that his supporters, whom he called "American patriots", "will have a huge long voice in the future". and"is in no way, in any form or in any form disregarded or treated unfairly !!!"
Twitter said the company looked at the tweets related to recent events, including the riot, and concluded that Trump's messages could spark violence. The two tweets "most likely encouraged and inspired people to repeat the criminal acts that took place in the US Capitol on January 6, 2021," Twitter said.
The company concluded that the tweet about Trump's skipping inauguration might encourage people who want to commit violence because they know he won't be there. Trump's use of the phrase "American Patriots" was interpreted as support for people who stormed the Capitol.
"We made it clear years ago that these accounts are not above our rules and cannot use Twitter to incite violence," the company said in a tweet. "We will continue to be transparent about our guidelines and their enforcement."
However, we made it clear years ago that these accounts are not above our rules and cannot use Twitter to incite violence. We will continue to be transparent about our policies and how they are enforced.
- Twitter safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021
The move coincided with an impending power shift in Washington, with the Biden-led Democrats taking control of both Houses of Congress as well as the presidency. Trump, a Republican, has called for it to be repealed Section 230, the internet law that allowed many services to flourish. As he leaves office, corporations must now address the concerns of Democrats who have said corporations are doing too little to tackle hate speech and misinformation on their platforms.
Twitter said it would lock a new account if Trump created an account to evade the ban. The company could also restrict the use of the @POTUS and @WhiteHouse Twitter accounts that Trump or his team appear to have tried after the suspension.
Several high-profile Twitter accounts tweeted screenshots of the @POTUS account that Trump beat up on banning Twitter, suggesting his team were working on creating a new service. "We are not being silenced!" he said in the tweet, which has apparently been deleted. (CNET didn't see the tweets, but they got widespread on Twitter.)
Twitter transfers both accounts to the incoming Biden administration, so they won't be blocked unless the company deems it necessary to prevent damage in practice.
The @ TeamTrump The account and accounts of some Trump advisors have also been banned, reportedly to bypass the bans on Trump's main account.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jason Miller, an adviser to Trump, called Twitter's move "disgusting" Tweet. "If you don't think they're coming for you next, you're wrong," Miller tweeted. Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. tweeted that the exposure was "absolute madness".
A link to Trump's account says it's locked. His Facebook account has been banned indefinitely. Google's YouTube pulled down one of Trump's videos but didn't bang his account.
Facebook and YouTube did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
Earlier in the day Twitter banned the accounts of Gen. Michael Flynn, Lawyer Sidney Powell and a host of other proponents of the QAnon false conspiracy theory advocated by many of Trump's most ardent fans. The unsubstantiated theory falsely states that a cabal of sex traffickers who worship Satan controls the government.
Twitter's actions have already created tension between Twitter and Conservatives, which are already pouring onto alternative platforms like Parler and Gab with fewer rules. The unprecedented move also puts more pressure on other social networks to ban the president.
Civil rights groups were quick to praise the action and urge other companies to do the same.
On Friday, the Stop Hate for Profit coalition called on Facebook, Twitter, Google's parent company Alphabet and other social media platforms to permanently ban Trump. The group consists of civil rights and interest groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and Color of Change.
"A fitting ending to the legacy of spitting out hatred and vitriol," said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of ADL, all in one Tweet. "President Trump instigated the violent riot in the Capitol through social media and paid the price."
Other groups like Muslim Advocates urged Google's Facebook and YouTube to take the same measures against Trump.
"It has been a long time since these companies took the necessary steps to address the pervasive hatred and disinformation on their platforms," said Eric Naing, media relations officer for Muslim Advocates.
