Following a week in which the current President of the United States, Donald Trump, was banned from Facebook, Instagram and Twitch – he has now been permanently banned from Twitter. The company said they banned the president due to the potential of “further incitement of violence” following the protests that turned violent at the nation’s Capitol on Wednesday. It’s worth pointing out that Facebook and Instagram were said to be “temporary bans”.
The company released an official statement on the matter, which can be found below:
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.
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. https://t.co/NrANZJcAfo
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021
However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules and cannot use Twitter to incite violence. We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021
Trump responded (a response that was quickly taken down):
Yes…he…did.
The junkie needed a hit… pic.twitter.com/nxwjTttacZ
— WhatIfBarackOrHillarySaidIt 🎉TRUMP IS BANNED🎉 (@IfBarack) January 9, 2021
As I have been saying for a long time, Twitter has gone further and further in banning free speech, and tonight, Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me — and YOU, the 75,000,000 great patriots who voted for me. Twitter may be a private company, but without the government’s gift of Section 230 they would not exist for long. I predicted this would happen.
We have been negotiating with various other sites, and will have a big announcement soon, while we also look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future. We will not be SILENCED! Twitter is not about FREE SPEECH. They are all about promoting a Radical Left platform where some of the most vicious people in the world are allowed to speak freely.
Stay tuned!
The president is said to have joined Parler, but as of right now, the app is down. Google removed the app from its GooglePlay store and Apple has said it will do the same if Parler doesn’t make changes to the way it monitors speech.