Twitter permanently suspends Trump’s account

WASHINGTON – Twitter suspended United States President Donald Trump’s account Friday, citing a further risk of violence.

“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,” the company said in a statement.

The move came after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, which includes House of Representatives and Senate offices, resulting in the death of five people.

Trump has been accused by many of inciting supporters to halt Congress’ ability to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory.

“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,” Twitter said.

The company cited two tweets from the president as grounds for the suspension.

A tweet dated January 8 vowed a “GIANT VOICE” for those who voted for the president.

“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!!!” he tweeted.

In another tweet Friday, he announced his decision to not attend Biden’s inauguration ceremony as 46th President of the US.

“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” he said.

The language used in the tweets is against Twitter’s Glorification of Violence policy, according to the company.

The policy “aims to prevent the glorification of violence that could inspire others to replicate violent acts and determined that they were highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate the criminal acts that took place at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021,” it added.

Facebook “indefinitely” extended a block on Trump’s account Thursday until what it said a peaceful transition of power is complete.

“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post.

Twitter locked Trump’s accounts on Wednesday for varying amounts of time because of his inflammatory rhetoric after his supporters besieged the Capitol building.

The company warned that the initial 12-hour freeze could be extended if Trump fails to remove posts that violated its policies, and further warned that future violations will result in his account’s suspension.

It blocked three tweets on Trump’s account on that day, in which he addressed his supporters. (Anadolu)