Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch ban Donald Trump
- Published
UPDATE: Jan. 6, 2021, 5:43 p.m. PST This post was updated to include Facebook blocking Trump for 24 hours.
UPDATE: Jan. 6, 2021, 6:09 p.m. PST This post was updated to include Instagram blocking Trump for 24 hours.
UPDATE: Jan. 7, 2021, 3:54 p.m. AEDT This post was updated to include Snapchat blocking Trump.
UPDATE: Jan. 7, 2021, 10:05 a.m. CST This post was updated to include the president being blocked on Facebook.
UPDATE: Jan. 7, 2021, 11:58 a.m. PST This post has been updated to include Twitch disabling Trump's account. The top of this post was also rewritten to better reflect the multiple bans.
UPDATE: Jan. 7, 2021, 2:11 p.m. PST This post has been updated to include information from Twitter about Trump deleting the violating tweets.
The chorus of social platforms banning President Donald Trump keeps growing stronger.
On Wednesday, after a day which saw Donald Trump use Twitter to seemingly encourage violent extremists storming the U.S. Capitol building, the company temporarily locked Trump's Twitter account and laid out the conditions under which it would permanently suspend the President.
Soon after, Facebook announced it had banned Trump from posting to his Facebook profile for 24 hours. Then Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, made the same call. Then Snapchat followed suit, though without any stipulation on duration. And by Thursday, Facebook and Instagram said they were banning Trump indefinitely. Twitch joined in and disabled Trump's account Thursday as well, noting in a statement to Mashable that it would "reassess his account after he leaves office."
"As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy," Twitter wrote in a tweet explaining its plan. "This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets."
Tweet may have been deleted
The three tweets in question included a wild video in which Trump falsely claimed the election "was stolen."
On Thursday, Twitter confirmed that Trump has deleted the violating tweets, but wouldn't specifically say if Trump currently is able to tweet.
"We can confirm that the violative Tweets have been deleted. Confirming the 12 hour lock did begin after the Tweets were deleted, but we've nothing more specific to share on timing," a Twitter spokesperson said. This appears to contradict an earlier statement by Twitter to Mashable, which suggested the 12-hour countdown began when Twitter hid the tweets. Trump has yet to tweet since complying with Twitter's demand.
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For its part, Facebook's initial 24-hour ban followed two policy violations. One offending post included the same video Twitter removed and another that included falsities about the election results. "We made the decision that on balance these posts contribute to, rather than diminish, the risk of ongoing violence," Facebook said in a blog post.
Tweet may have been deleted
Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, tweeted about its ban about 20 minutes after Facebook's initial announcement with no additional information.
Tweet may have been deleted
Trump was also unceremoniously shoved off Snapchat Wednesday, Snap spokeswoman Rachel Racusen telling The Informationthis was done before the president shared his dangerously false video to other social media platforms.
"We can confirm that earlier today we locked President Trump’s Snapchat account," said Racusen in a statement.
Snap hasn't put any set length on Trump's exile, meaning it's anyone's guess when — or if — he will return. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that Facebook's and Instagram's bans will last at least until after Joe Biden's inauguration because the risks are "simply too great." Like Snap, Twitch confirmed it disabled Trump's account preemptively; his Twitch account had not shared the offending video.
"In light of yesterday’s shocking attack on the Capitol, we have disabled President Trump’s Twitch channel," a Twitch spokesperson said. "Given the current extraordinary circumstances and the President's incendiary rhetoric, we believe this is a necessary step to protect our community and prevent Twitch from being used to incite further violence."
Notably, Twitter took things even further — confirming that it will in fact permanently suspend @realDonaldTrump's account if he continues violating Twitter policy.
"Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account," wrote Twitter.
Tweet may have been deleted
If only Twitter had done that, oh, let's say around four years ago. Same goes for Facebook, which has only recently started slightly pushing back against Trump's policy violations. Twitch suspended Trump for two weeks over the summer after his account streamed rallies featuring racist rhetoric.
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TopicsSocial MediaTwitterDonald Trump