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Twitter has suspended Donald Trump’s account in an unprecedented move to address misinformation and the incitement of violence posted by the president.
The social media company said on Wednesday evening it will require Trump to delete several tweets that attempt to delegitimize the results of the presidential election after his supporters stormed the US Capitol.
Trump is being required to delete the three tweets in question, after which his account will remain locked for 12 more hours. If he does not delete them, his account will remain suspended indefinitely, the company said in a public statement. If Trump again violates the policies, the account will be permanently suspended from Twitter.
The action is the most aggressive yet from Twitter and it comes after the social media giant joined Facebook and YouTube in removing a video post from Trump’s account in which the president praised the protestors.
Earlier on Wednesday, Twitter blocked several of Trump’s posts from being shared, citing a “risk of violence”.
As his supporters gathered on Wednesday to protest the certification of the 3 November election results, Trump in a tweet accused Vice-president Mike Pence of lacking “the courage to do what should have been done”.
In the video he shared on social media later in the day, Trump urged his supporters to “go home”, but also gave legitimacy to the falsehoods that fueled Wednesday’s attempted insurrection, calling the election “stolen” and telling the angry mob, “we love you”.
Later on Wednesday, Trump again falsely claimed his “election victory” was “unceremoniously” and “viciously” stripped away.
The misinformation media machine amplifying Trump’s election lies
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“In line with our civic integrity policy and recent guidance, we have placed a label on the tweet, and have significantly restricted engagement with the tweet due to the risk of violence,” a Twitter spokesman said. “This means this tweet will not be able to be replied to, retweeted, or liked.”
Facebook’s decision to take down a post made by the president is unprecedented. “This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video,” said Guy Rosen, Facebook’s vice-president of integrity, in a tweet. “We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to, rather than diminishes, the risk of ongoing violence.”
Meanwhile, dozens of Facebook groups and events that were used to organize the violent action remain live on the site.
Twitter Safety
(@TwitterSafety)
In regard to the ongoing situation in Washington, D.C., we are working proactively to protect the health of the public conversation occurring on the service and will take action on any content that violates the Twitter Rules.
January 6, 2021
Twitter faced intense pressure on Wednesday to suspend the president’s account as tensions in Washington rose. “In regard to the ongoing situation in Washington DC, we are working proactively to protect the health of the public conversation occurring on the service and will take action on any content that violates the Twitter rules,” the company wrote.
“Threats of and calls to violence are against the Twitter rules, and we are enforcing our policies accordingly,” Twitter said.
The company’s safety account, which shares updates and enforcements of company policy, also said it is working to rein in violent language on the platform as the attempted coup continues to unfold.
Twitter in the past has flagged several Trump tweets sharing misinformation or calling for violence. Most notably, the president’s May 2020 tweets encouraging violence against protesters demonstrating against police violence were hidden and prevented from being shared.
But the company has also faced criticism for failing to remove tweets quickly enough and calls to remove the account entirely. Though Twitter doubled down on its enforcement of policies against misinformation and calls to violence in the weeks leading up to the presidential election, it was slower to take action in days and months following. On 11 November, the site took more than an hour to flag a highly misleading video shared by Trump. It was retweeted more than 70,000 times before the platform took action.
Facebook has also faced criticism for its role in promoting misinformation and allowing armed groups to organize. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced intense criticism for the company’s decision to leave up the presidents’ message inciting violence against protesters demonstrating against police violence, as companies like Twitter removed them.
Facebook also began to remove militias from its platform in 2020 August, months after it was found thousands of extremist groups were using the site to organize anti-Democratic, armed actions, a shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin organized on Facebook left two dead, and the violent kidnapping of Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer was planned on the platform.
Surrounding the storming of the Capitol on Wednesday, Facebook was again targeted with blame as many of the events and protests that led to the action were organized there. Neither platform has yet suspended the president from posting.
“The violent protests in the Capitol today are a disgrace,” a Facebook spokesman said. “We prohibit incitement and calls for violence on our platform. We are actively reviewing and removing any content that breaks these rules.”
These statements come amid calls to boot the president from social platforms. Online activism group Color of Change launched a petition on Wednesday calling on social media firms to remove the president, saying they have ignored years of warnings about the dangers of white supremacists using these platforms to recruit, organize and fundraise.
“Big tech companies are complicit in the insurrection in DC today,” said Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change. “Enough is enough. It’s time for Facebook and Twitter to kick Trump off their platforms.”
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