Twitter has temporarily suspended President Donald Trump’s account after the president tweeted his support for a protest that turned out violent, as the protesters descended on the nation’s Capitol while Congress was in a meeting to certify the results of the November election.
Twitter said it locked Trump’s account for 12 hours and that the U.S. 45th President is required to remove three tweets that it had previously labeled for inciting violence.
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“As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy.
“This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked,” Twitter wrote.
As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy. https://t.co/k6OkjNG3bM
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021
Twitter also noted that further violations “will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”
The action by Twitter is a step it had previously avoided, citing a “public interest policy” that tweets from world leaders should be allowed to remain up to allow scrutiny and public dissemination. Now, the company said that policy has reached its limit.
Our public interest policy — which has guided our enforcement action in this area for years — ends where we believe the risk of harm is higher and/or more severe.
https://t.co/ZcbhDEAYjH— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021
“Our public interest policy — which has guided our enforcement action in this area for years ends where we believe the risk of harm is higher and/or more severe.
“We’ll continue to evaluate the situation in real-time, including examining activity on the ground and statements made off Twitter. We will keep the public informed, including if further escalation in our enforcement approach is necessary.”
Twitter earlier added new labels to three tweets from President Trump, including a video in which he praised the demonstrators, warning the messages posed a “risk of violence.”
Meanwhile, YouTube and Facebook also trashed the same video from their platforms as well.
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