BREAKING: Twitter permanently bans Trump
Pollemix News – January 08, 2021
Twitter announced today that President Donald Trump has been permanently banned from their platform “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
President Trump has been a prolific Twitter user throughout and prior to his Presidency, with the site playing a pivotal role in his rise to power. Despite being instrumental in getting him elected, Trump has had a running battle with the social media giant which has escalated since his election loss, with Twitter labeling a number of his tweets claiming voter fraud as “misleading”, which has raised the President’s ire.
Twitter’s actions are sure to infuriate President Trump, who has used the platform to communicate with voters and has amassed a cult following of 88 Million, putting him on par with celebrities like Taylor Swift and Cristiano Ronaldo.
It is also likely to be regarded as validation by right wingers who have consistently claimed they are being censored on social media. Conversely, many have criticized Twitter over the years for not suspending Trump earlier, arguing that he has been given greater leeway than a normal public citizen would be afforded. Twitter’s response until their most recent action has been to maintain a stance that “a world leader should be able to speak to his or her citizens unfettered.”
Twitter made the announcement in a series of tweets this evening:
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.https://t.co/CBpE1I6j8Y
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021
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
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. https://t.co/ZcbhDEAYjH
— 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
Twitter’s move was likely motivated by internal rifts within the company in response to Wednesday’s ill-fated coup attempt, with employees sending a letter to management saying that Twitter must take responsibility for sowing the seeds of discontent that underpinned the riot:
“Despite our efforts to serve the public conversation, as Trump’s megaphone, we helped fuel the deadly events of January 6th,” the employees wrote. “We request an investigation into how our public policy decisions led to the amplification of serious anti-democratic threats. We must learn from our mistakes in order to avoid causing future harm. We play an unprecedented role in civil society and the world’s eyes are upon us. Our decisions this week will cement our place in history, for better or worse.”
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