Twitter is permanently banning President Trump
(CNN) Twitter has suspended President Trump from his platform, the company said Friday night.
“After a close review of recent Tweets of the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them, we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further inciting violence,” said Twitter.
“In the context of this week’s horrific events, we made clear on Wednesday that additional breaches of Twitter Rules could lead to these exact actions.”
A Twitter decision followed two tweets from Trump on Friday afternoon that would ultimately be his last. The tweets violated the company’s policy against glorifying violence, Twitter said, and “these two Tweets must be read in the context of wider events in the country and the ways in which different President’s statements can be assembled by different audiences , including encouraging violence, as well as in the context of this account’s behavior pattern in recent weeks. ”
The first tweet was about Trump supporters.
“The 75,000,000 great American Patriots, who voted for me, will have AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA BIG AGAIN, a GIANT VOICE well into the future. They will not be respected or treated in any way, shape or form unfairly !!! ”
The second indicated that Trump did not intend to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“For everyone who has asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20.”
Twitter said the tweet about inauguration could be considered as a further statement that the election was not legal. He also said that the tweet could be interpreted as Trump saying that the inauguration would be a “safe” target for violence because he would not attend.
Trump’s other statement about American patriots suggested that “he intends to continue to support, empower, and shadow those who believe he won the election,” Twitter said.
The Twitter ban specifically addresses the “@realDonaldTrump account,” not Trump personally.
Twitter will enforce its policy against avoiding bans to ensure Trump does not evade the suspension of his personal account, the company told CNN.
“If it is clear that another account is being used for the purpose of evading a ban, it is also subject to suspension,” Twitter said in a statement. “For government accounts, such as @POTUS and @WhiteHouse, we will not suspend those accounts but will take action to limit their use. However, these accounts will be transferred to the new administration in due course and will only be suspended by Twitter unless absolutely necessary to mitigate real-world harm. ”
Twitter’s policy would also prohibit Trump from directing a third party to operate a Twitter account on his behalf.
Trump tried to test Twitter’s exclusionary policy at around 8:30 pm on Friday night, when he or someone acting on his behalf announced four tweets from the @POTUS account.
“As I have been saying for a long time, Twitter has gone further and further in banning free speech, and tonight Twitter workers have liaised with Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform , to calm me down, ”Trump tweeted.
The tweets disappeared almost instantly.
He welcomed civil rights leaders who have long criticized technology platforms for spreading hate speech and sharing Twitter’s decision.
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation Alliance, called it an “excellent move.”
“A fitting end to a legacy of hate and vitriolic espionage,” said Greenblatt. “President Trump encouraged the violent riots at the Capitol using social media and paid the price.”
Eric Naing, a spokesman for Muslim Advocates, said Twitter “shows real leadership.”
“As Twitter points out, letting Trump continue to post tweets, Facebook posts and YouTube videos for his white nationalist supporters risks ‘inciting further violence,'” Naing said. “Now it’s up to Facebook and Google / YouTube to follow Twitter’s lead.”