After years of inciting rhetoric from President Donald Trump with a light touch, Facebook and Instagram shut down his social media accounts for the rest of his presidency. The move, which many people have long called after Wednesday’s deadly uprising at the U.S. Capitol, is also a reminder of the enormous power that social media platforms can wield if they so choose.
Facebook and Instagram said Thursday they will prevent Trump from at least posting until the inauguration of Elected President Joe Biden.
The twelve-hour-long closure of Trump’s account ended Thursday and the president used his recovery account to post a video in which he acknowledges for the first time that his presidency will end soon.
It remains unclear how the platforms will handle Trump once he leaves office and is no longer protected from enforcing most rules through his status as a world leader. And some critics see the move as cynical attempts by companies to position themselves for a post-Trump future.
“They no longer have to fear Donald Trump,” said Rashad Robinson of Color of Change, a group that has encouraged tech companies to do more to curb hate speech. He said Facebook’s actions were “in the best interests of Facebook” and a way to give favor to the incoming Democratic president and Congress.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the unprecedented move that the risk that Trump may use the platform is too great following the president’s incitement to a mob on Wednesday. Zuckerberg said Trump’s account will be closed “for at least the next two weeks” and possibly indefinitely.
“The shocking events of the past 24 hours clearly show that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and legal transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Zuckerberg wrote .
Trump has repeatedly used the power of social media to spread falsehoods about election integrity and the results of the presidential race. Platforms like Facebook have sometimes labeled or even deleted some of its posts, but the overall response has not satisfied a growing number of critics who say the platforms have made it possible to spread dangerous misinformation.
However, in light of the riot Wednesday, Zuckerberg said a more aggressive approach was needed because of “the use of our platform to incite violent insurgency against a democratically elected government.”
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, will also block Trump’s ability to post on his platform. YouTube, owned by Google, has announced more general changes that will penalize bills that spread misinformation about voter fraud in the 2020 election, with repeat offenders having to be permanently removed. Snapchat closed Trump’s account ‘indefinitely’ on Wednesday.
Twitch, the direct website owned by Amazon and used by Trump’s campaign to stream speeches, shut down Trump’s account until he leaves office, saying it does not want to be used to incite further violence. Companies outside the social media world have also scrambled to take stock of how they were used by those who conquered the Capitol. The e-commerce company Shopify is closing down two online Trump memorabilia stores to promote people or organizations “who threaten or approve of violence to promote a cause.”
White House spokesman Judd Deere said in an email that “it is incredibly ironic, yet not surprising, that Big Tech chose to censor and prevent him when the president was at a critical time. spoke to the country. “
It was Twitter where Trump was likely to experience the consequences the most. The company closed its accounts for 12 hours after repeatedly making false accusations about the integrity of the election. More than a decade ago, Trump adopted the immediate scope of the platform to rally loyalists, enchant enemies, and spread false rumors.
In his video posted on his recovery bill Thursday, Trump condemned the violence at the Capitol and reversed the stance he took in a video posted Wednesday.
A company spokesman said Twitter could take further action as it kept pace with “activities on the ground and Twitter’s statements.”
The platforms still received criticism from users who blamed them, among other things, for creating an online environment that led to Wednesday’s violence.
“Today is the result of people with hatred in their hearts being allowed to use platforms that need to be used to bring people together,” singer and actress Selena Gomez wrote on her 64 million followers on Twitter. “You have all let the American people down today, and I hope you will put things right in the future.”
Senator Mark Warner, the incoming chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, on Thursday called Facebook, Twitter and Google “collaborators” in Trump’s assault on American democracy. “And their 11-hour conversion to suddenly taking down Trump’s Facebook or Twitter feed is far too little,” the Virginia Democrat said during an Aspen Digital online forum.
The actions of the platforms followed years in which they smeared and hacked about the dangerous misinformation and violent rhetoric that Trump and his supporters have been spreading, contributing to Wednesday’s violence.
On Wednesday, the companies focused on a video that Trump posted more than two hours after protesters entered the Capitol, which the legislators are meeting in an extraordinary joint sitting to discuss the results of the Electoral College and the election of Pres. To confirm Joe Biden’s victory. Republican lawmakers and former government officials have begged Trump to give a statement to his supporters to suppress the violence.
While Trump has told supporters that “you have to go home now”, he also reiterates false allegations about voter fraud affecting the election. He then added: ‘We can not play into the hands of these people. We must have peace. So go home. We love you. You are very special. ‘
Twitter, Facebook and YouTube all said they removed the video Wednesday, citing misinformation or dangerous rhetoric.
In a statement Thursday morning, Trump said there would be an “orderly transition on January 20” and acknowledged the defeat in the election for the first time. His associates posted the statement on Twitter because the president’s account had remained suspended.
Monica Stephens, a professor at Buffalo University who studies social media, said it makes sense for Facebook and Twitter to try lighter forms of combating misinformation in the months leading up to the election. “They get levels from both sides of the political corridor,” she said.
Trump’s ardent supporters flocked to Parler, Gab and other “speechless” social media sites that satisfy conservative voices. Some were used by the people who stormed the Capitol. As mainstream platforms drive discussions about violence and social protest to more marginal sites, Stephens said: ‘it’s still going to happen; it’s only going to happen where it’s not read that way. ”
Now that platforms have imposed strict restrictions on Trump, companies such as Facebook and Twitter may find it harder to turn down calls to ban other political figures who incite violence, said Shannon McGregor, an assistant professor of journalism and media at the University. of North Carolina, said. “Because they resisted and resisted, but now that they have done so, it is difficult to walk it back,” she said.
——
AP authors Mae Anderson, Tali Arbel, Barbara Ortutay, Frank Bajak and Joseph Pisani contributed to this report.