Twitter blocks Trump in the long run – politics –

He used the platform several times a day to directly address his followers and global audiences. More than 87 million people followed the president on his @realDonaldTrump account.

Critics accuse Trump of inciting his followers to attack the Capitol at a rally on Wednesday. Five people died in the riot. Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account were no longer accessible on Friday night. Instead, the message “Account Locked” appeared. Twitter specifically listed two tweets from the president on Friday to justify the new ban.

In one of these tweets, Trump wrote, partly in capital letters, that the 75 million “great American patriots” who would have voted for him in the elections would have a “powerful vote” in the future. You will not like them or treat you unfairly in any way. In a second tweet, Trump announced that he would stay away from the inauguration of his successor Joe Biden on January 20.

Twitter called the combination of the two tweets adequate to inspire people to act violently in the style of storming the Capitol. The short message service argued, among other things, that Trump’s suggestion that he not attend the swearing-in ceremony could serve as an encouragement to those who might be considering acts of violence “that the oath is a ‘safe’ target.” , because Trump himself was not there. is present.

Plans for future armed protests are already spreading on Twitter and elsewhere, he said. Among other things, there is talk of a new proposed attack on the seat of Parliament on January 17.

“Twitter employees have agreed with Democrats and the radical left to remove my account from their platform to silence me and you, the 75 million great patriots who voted for me,” Trump commented on the suspension. Twitter in response. “We will not be silenced,” said Trump’s statement, which he had released through reporters at the White House. Trump announced that they were negotiating with several other websites and that they were also considering building their own platform in the near future. “Twitter is not about freedom of expression. They just want to promote a left-wing platform where some of the most vicious people in the world can speak freely.”

Following the Capitol riots on Wednesday, Twitter had already blocked @realDonaldTrump’s account for twelve hours because the president’s tweets had “repeatedly and seriously violated” the platform’s guidelines. The short message service threatened Trump with a permanent ban if these tweets are not removed.

Among other things, a video was affected in which Trump asked his supporters to leave the Capitol that they stormed, but at the same time repeated his baseless claims about alleged electoral fraud. In another tweet, Trump wrote in light of his supporters unrest in parliament: “These are things and events that happen when a crushing and holy victory is so suddenly and petty stolen.” Twitter justified the permanent ban with new tweets.

Facebook announced Thursday that it would block Trump until further notice. Trump’s accounts on the online network and also on the Instagram photo platform must remain blocked for at least two weeks or until handover to his successor Joe Biden, as Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday. Initially, Facebook blocked Trump for 24 hours.

In particular, Twitter has so far been limited to advisory notices for Trump because the service views the president’s contributions as historical documents. In recent months, Twitter and Facebook had warned Trump about false information in numerous posts and in some cases also restricted its distribution. The outgoing president later accused the platforms of political censorship.