Twitter permanently suspends Trump's account

(Image credit: Twitter)

published 8 January 2021

Twitter "permanently suspended" President Trump's personal account on Friday, citing "the risk of further incitement of violence."

The decision follows Twitter's temporary, 12-hour ban on the president's account on Wednesday, resulting from the president's "severe" violations of the company's civil integrity policy. Twitter warned at the time that if Trump violated the company's civic integrity or violent threats policies again, it would "result in permanent suspension." Facebook took similar steps this week, blocking Trump from using his account until "the peaceful transfer of power is complete."

On Friday, Trump sent two tweets: One read, "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!!!" The next stated that "to all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th."

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Here's the explanation from Twitter:

Due to the ongoing tensions in the United States, and an uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who violently stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, these two tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President's statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks. After assessing the language in these Tweets against our Glorification of Violence policy, we have determined that these Tweets are in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy and the user @realDonaldTrump should be immediately permanently suspended from the service. [Twitter]

Twitter said his tweets violated policy by providing "further indication that President Trump does not plan to facilitate an 'orderly transition' and instead that he plans to continue to support, empower, and shield those who believe he won the election."

His account has already vanished from the website. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.