US President Donald Trump has been permanently suspended from Twitter due to the risk of “further incitement of violence”, the social media giant has announced.
“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,” Twitter said on Saturday morning.
Twitter said it had made clear that any “further violations” of its rules could result in suspension, after temporarily blocking Mr Trump’s account in the wake of the riots he incited this week at the Capitol in Washington.
“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,” it said.
“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.”
The block on the president’s account was lifted on Friday and he posted a video acknowledging that a transition of power would take effect on 20 January.
The social media giant said it assessed those tweets as “highly likely” to encourage others to replicate the “criminal acts” that took place at the Capitol, where thousands of Mr Trump’s supporters raided, smashed and broke into political offices in the building. At least five people died.
Among the offending tweets, it said, was Mr Trump’s statement that he would not be attending Joe Biden’s inauguration. Twitter said supporters were viewing that as further confirmation that the election result was illegitimate.
“[That] Tweet may also serve as encouragement to those potentially considering violent acts that the inauguration would be a ‘safe’ target, as he will not be attending,” Twitter said.
The social media giant added that plans for a future attack on 17 January on the Capitol and other state buildings were being discussed on and off its platform.
It came after the accounts of some of Mr Trump’s most hardline supporters, including his former national security advisor Michael Flynn and lawyer Sidney Powell, were also suspended.
The account of Ron Watkins, the administrator of the 8kun online forum that is a haven for QAnon content, was also suspended.
Twitter’s decision to ban Mr Trump was quickly mooted as a boon for the fringe social media platform Parler, which promotes itself as a haven for free speech and is used by right-wing extremists and conspiracy theorists.
But shortly after Mr Trump’s suspension, Google announced it would remove Parler from its Play Store until the app adds “robust” content moderation.
Apple, meanwhile, has given Parler 24 hours to submit a detailed moderation plan or it will also remove the app.
