Twitter said today that it had permanently suspended Donald Trump from its service “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” effectively cutting him off from his favorite megaphone for reaching his supporters.
“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 said in a blog post.
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
The suspension comes a day after Trump was barred from using Facebook for the remainder of his term, and after a number of other digital platforms limited Trump from their services.
Twitter’s decision followed two tweets by Trump, who had 88 million followers, this afternoon that would end up being his last.
The tweets violated the company’s policy against glorification of violence, Twitter said, and “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.”
The first tweet was about Trump’s supporters.
“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 second indicated Trump did not plan to attend Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
Twitter said the tweet concerning inauguration could be viewed as a further statement that the election was not legitimate.
It also said that the tweet could be interpreted as Trump saying that the inauguration would be a “safe” target for violence because he would not be attending.
Trump’s other statement about American patriots suggested that “he plans to continue to support, empower, and shield those who believe he won the election,” Twitter said.
Twitter’s ban specifically addresses “the @realDonaldTrump account,” not President Donald Trump personally.
It is unclear whether Twitter has sought to prevent Trump from launching new accounts, or from tweeting using US government handles such as @POTUS or @WhiteHouse.
But the restrictions on Trump are likely limited to his personal account, given the specific language in Twitter’s announcement.
The move is a stunning fall from grace for Trump, who assembled a massive national following, in large part through the prolific use of his Twitter feed.
The platform was his preferred tool for announcing major changes in federal policy — and even changes in personnel.
He occasionally fired Cabinet secretaries and aides via tweet.
He took pride in his ability to get around the mainstream media and drive cable news with tweets he compared to “a rocket ship.”
“I call Twitter a typewriter,” Trump told a White House summit with right-wing social media provocateurs in 2019.
“I go, ‘Watch this.’ Boom. I press it, and within two seconds, ‘We have breaking news,’ ” he said.
But Trump used his Twitter account to do more: routinely disparage, attack and threaten his rivals.
Researchers say Trump’s tweets supercharged falsehoods about racial justice protesters, the coronavirus and the election, among many other topics.
Inspired and encouraged by the president’s rhetoric — on and off social media — thousands of rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
That marked a turning point for Twitter, but it initially stopped short of permanently banning the president and instead limited his access for several hours.