Twitter bans President Donald Trump's account permanently, he cries conspiracy
Twitter, the micro-blogging platform that Donald Trump used religiously, has suspended his account permanently, two days after the outgoing United States President was barred from posting anything for a brief time in the wake of Capitol violence. The company said the account was suspended "due to the risk of further incitement of violence" and added that Trump was warned that he shouldn't violate policies.
Context: A pro-Trump mob stormed Capitol, violence shamed the US
On Wednesday (local time), a mob of Trump supporters entered the Capitol, the seat of US democracy, and disrupted a ceremonial session of Congress convened to certify President-elect Joe Biden's win. In the violence, four people and one police officer died. The episode was slammed by world leaders and those within the US blamed Trump for dispelling misinformation about the election outcome.
After warning Trump, Twitter went ahead with complete ban
After the riots at Capitol, Twitter asked Trump to remove three tweets, in which he praised the invaders. His account was restored after he did the needful. In a statement on Friday, the Jack Dorsey-run company said two new tweets violated guidelines, sparking the permanent ban. The said tweets must be "read in the context of broader events in the country," underlined Twitter.
In one tweet, Trump said he won't attend Biden's inauguration
In one of the tweets, Trump sent a message to his supporters. He wrote, "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!!! (sic)" The other tweet revealed he won't attend Biden's inauguration.
Twitter concluded Trump is still not accepting the election results
Twitter said the post about missing Biden's inauguration was being perceived as "further confirmation that the election was not legitimate." About the other tweet, Twitter mentioned, "The use of the words "American Patriots" to describe some of his supporters is also being interpreted as support for those committing violent acts at the US Capitol." The website said Trump seems to not favor "orderly transition."
Trump used the POTUS account, tweets were taken down
Banned from his primary account, Trump turned to @POTUS account, which is used by sitting US presidents, but his tweets were swiftly deleted. Earlier on Friday, over 300 Twitter employees sought a permanent ban on Trump. "We must examine Twitter's complicity in what President-Elect Biden has rightly termed insurrection. Those acts jeopardize the well-being of the United States, our company, and our employees," the internal petition read.
Later, Trump claimed Twitter employees coordinated with Radical Left, Democrats
Furious at the treatment meted out to him, the outgoing President said, "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." Twitter is not about free speech anymore, he added.
'We will not be silenced'
'Team Trump' was banned, so was 'The Donald Dot Win'
Notably, Twitter's action wasn't merely restricted to Trump's account, his aides — @TeamTrump, @thedonalddotwin, and @garycoby were also banned. "OK, it's pretty clear people like us aren't welcome here anymore, (sic)" wrote Right Side Broadcasting Network, another account linked to Trump. Separately, Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) mentioned Twitter's inaction against Chinese and Iranian propaganda accounts, highlighting that the platform is banned in these countries.
'Twitter was disrespecting 75 million Americans who chose Trump'
Will journalists reporting Trump's exact words also be banned?
Amid the numerous suspensions, CNN reached out to Twitter asking whether journalists reporting Trump's words would be treated in the same manner. A spokesperson hinted this might not happen. "There's a difference between someone reporting on the President, and someone attempting to allow their account to be used by the President to essentially get around the ban," the person underlined.
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