US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has been effectively banned from Twitter “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
The social media firm announced it had permanently suspended Trump’s account, which has almost 89 million followers, after a review of two tweets posted by the President on Friday that they determined violated its glorification of violence policy.
The offending tweets read “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!” and “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th”.
Twitter determined Trump’s decision to refuse to attend Biden’s inauguration was being received by his supporters as “further confirmation that the election was not legitimate.”
They also felt it went against his previous claim that he would support an“orderly transition”.
The social media giant also felt the second tweet would serve as “encouragement to those potentially considering violent acts that the Inauguration would be a ‘safe’ target, as he will not be attending”.
Trump attempted to circumvent the ban by issuing two tweets via the @POTUS account but both messages were subsequently deleted.
They also moved to suspend the @TeamTrump account after it posted a statement from the president.
After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.https://t.co/CBpE1I6j8Y
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021
A statement from Twitter said: “After close review of recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.
“In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter rules would potentially result in this very course of action. Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open.
“However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules entirely and cannot use Twitter to incite violence, among other things.
“We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement.”
The decision to permanently suspend Trump’s account comes after supporters of the President stormed the US Capitol building ahead of Biden’s confirmation as the winner of last year’s elections.
It sparked a series of violent clashes that led to the deaths of five people.
Trump was accused of inciting much of the ensuing chaos after making a speech at a rally in Washington DC earlier that day.
Trump was initially locked out of his Twitter account for 12 hours before the platform followed the example of Facebook in banning the President from posting entirely.
