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“After carefully reviewing the latest posts on the @realDonaldTrump account,” Twitter said in a blog post, “we have permanently blocked your account due to the risk of further incitement to violence.”
Twitter, Trump’s favorite platform for interacting with his followers, had initially blocked the president’s account 12 hours after his followers’ deadly storm, Capitol, on Wednesday. The social network later promised to permanently block the president if he continued to break the platform’s rules.
Trump returned to Twitter Thursday night with a video message that appears to have sought to defuse tensions following the turmoil caused by his followers.
He acknowledged that his term was coming to an end and promised a smooth transfer of power to Joe Biden, although he was not welcomed and his name was not mentioned.
Twitter at the time said it would continue to monitor Trump’s social media activity to determine if further action was needed.
The decision to block Trump’s account was made after the president posted two posts on the platform on Friday, the social network said.
In one, Trump promised that none of his supporters would be “treated with disrespect,” and in another, he said he would not attend Biden’s January 20 inauguration, as is customary for outgoing presidents.
“These two posts should be read in the broader context of the country’s events and in the ways in which various audiences can mobilize the president’s statements, including incitement to violence, as well as in the context of the recent pattern of behavior of this account, “Twitter said.
The company ruled that the president’s records violated the platform’s “glorification of violence” rule and said that “user @realDonaldTrump should be permanently blocked on the platform immediately.”
The president published a series of messages through the official account @POTUS of the president of the United States, accusing the social media company of conspiring with the “radical left.” Twitter quickly deleted these posts.
Trump also posted statements through his election campaign account @TeamTrump, but this too was quickly blocked.
“It is against the rules to use another account to try to avoid a freeze,” Twitter told AFP.
“We have taken steps to implement this [taisyklę] recent posts on his @POTUS account, “the message read.
After the assault on the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, Twitter temporarily blocked Trump’s account and warned that the decision could become permanent.
His account was suspended on Friday after two messages were posted on it. In one of them, Trump promised that none of his supporters would show “disrespect.” In another, the president said he would not attend the inauguration ceremony of his successor, Joe Biden, on January 20, in violation of tradition.
“These two messages should be viewed in the context of broader developments in the country, given that the president’s statements can mobilize a variety of audiences, including incitement to violence, as well as [vertinant] in the context of the nature of the behavior on this account in recent weeks ”, highlighted Twitter.
“We understand the desire now to permanently block it,” said Keit Ruan, senior legal counsel for the American Civil Rights Union (ACLU).
“But everyone should be concerned when companies like Facebook and Twitter use unrestricted power to get people off platforms that have become indispensable for talking to billions,” he warned.
Trump has a team of spokespersons and can easily speak through supportive outlets like Fox News TV, but other people who might be blocked by social media don’t have that opportunity, Ruane said.
The social media company has the right to decide at its own discretion what is published on its platforms and to establish rules about what content is inappropriate. Amendment 1 to the United States Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech, does not allow it to be restricted by the government, but it does not apply to private companies.
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