Tech giants vs democracy: Twitter deletes tweets from President Trump
Twitter took the unprecedented step of removing three of President Trump’s tweets and locking his account for at least 12 hours following a day of chaos at the Capitol Building on Wednesday.
Facebook also deleted a video posted by the president and blocked him from posting for 24 hours, according to a report.
The missives were sent after mayhem shut down Congressional proceedings to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November election.
Citing the “unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C.,” Twitter said in a statement that the president must delete the tweets, and that his account “will be locked for 12 hours” once he does.
If the tweets aren’t deleted, his account will remain locked, Twitter said.
“Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account,” the social media service added.
The first tweet was a video in which Trump urged his supporters to “go home.”
However, the president also made claims in the video about the election that have been disputed.
“I know how you feel, but go home and go home in peace. I know you’re in pain. I know you’re hurt,” Trump said in a one minute video address.
“We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt,” he said.
The second tweet was a statement claiming the unrest was due to alleged flaws in the election.
“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long,” Trump wrote.
“Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”
Meanwhile, Facebook also removed Trump’s video from its platform, and later blocked him from posting for 24 hours, according to the New York Times.
“We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time,” the company said in a statement to Times reporter Mike Isaac.
The missives were sent after mayhem shut down Congressional proceedings to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November election.
Citing the “unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C.,” Twitter said in a statement that the president must delete the tweets, and that his account “will be locked for 12 hours” once he does.
If the tweets aren’t deleted, his account will remain locked, Twitter said.
“Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account,” the social media service added.
The first tweet was a video in which Trump urged his supporters to “go home.”
However, the president also made claims in the video about the election that have been disputed.
“I know how you feel, but go home and go home in peace. I know you’re in pain. I know you’re hurt,” Trump said in a one minute video address.
“We had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt,” he said.
The second tweet was a statement claiming the unrest was due to alleged flaws in the election.
“These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long,” Trump wrote.
“Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!”
Meanwhile, Facebook also removed Trump’s video from its platform, and later blocked him from posting for 24 hours, according to the New York Times.
“We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time,” the company said in a statement to Times reporter Mike Isaac.