“After a careful review of recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context surrounding them, we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement to violence,” Twitter said.
“In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that further violations of the Twitter rules may lead to this very action.”
Twitter’s decision follows two tweets from Trump Friday afternoon that will ultimately be his last. The tweets are contrary to the company’s policy against glorifying violence, Twitter said, and ‘these two tweets should be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the president’s statements are mobilized by different audiences can be, among other things, to incite violence. , as well as in the context of the behavioral pattern of this report over the past few weeks. ‘
The first tweet was about Trump’s supporters.
“The 75,000,000 great American patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and AMERICA MAKES GREAT AGAIN, will have a HUGE VOICE until the future. They will in no way, shape or form, be treated unfairly!”
The second indicated that Trump did not intend to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“To all who asked, I will not go to the inauguration on January 20.”
Twitter said the tweet regarding inauguration could be seen as a further statement that the election is not legal. It also said the tweet could be interpreted as Trump saying the inauguration would be a ‘safe’ target for violence because he would not be there.
Trump’s other statement on American patriots suggested that “he plans to support, empower and protect those who believe he won the election,” Twitter said.
The ban on Twitter specifically addresses ‘the @realDonaldTrump account’, not Trump personally.
Twitter will apply its anti-evasion policy to ensure Trump does not circumvent the suspension of his personal account, the company told CNN.
“If it is clear that another account is being used to evade a ban, it is also subject to suspension,” Twitter said in a statement. “For government accounts, such as @POTUS and @WhiteHouse, we will not suspend the accounts, but will take action to restrict their use. These accounts will eventually be transferred to the new administration and will not be suspended by Twitter unless it is absolutely essential to alleviate the real damage. ‘
Trump was trying to test Twitter’s evasion policy around 8:30 p.m. Friday night when he or someone on his behalf posted four tweets from the @POTUS account.
“Like I said a long time ago, Twitter went further and further in banning freedom of speech, and tonight Twitter employees coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left to remove my account from their platform, to silence me,” said Trump. tweeted.
The tweets disappeared almost immediately.
Twitter told CNN that the Trump campaign’s account was also permanently banned. Before @TeamTrump was suspended, he was seen sharing the same four-tweet thread that Trump wanted to post from the @POTUS account.
Civil rights leaders who have long criticized technological platforms for spreading hate speech and divisions welcomed Twitter’s decision.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, called it an “excellent move”.
“A fitting end to a legacy of hatred and poisoning,” Greenblatt said. “President Trump, using social media, incited the violent riots at the Capitol and paid the price.”
Eric Naing, a spokesman for Muslim Advocates, said Twitter was ‘showing real leadership’.
“As Twitter notes, Trump could continue to incite violence to post tweets, Facebook posts and YouTube videos for his white nationalist supporters,” Naing said. “Now it’s up to Facebook and Google / YouTube to follow the lead of Twitter.”