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Summary
- Facebook, Twitter and YouTube blocked Trump’s accounts on Wednesday
- The move came after Trump’s tweets allegedly fuelled riots at the US Capitol building
It was a Black Wednesday for the United States. The US Capitol was under siege when an armed and angry mob stormed one of the most iconic buildings and attacked the police when the Congress was about to validate Joe Biden’s presidential win.
US President Donald Trump has been trying relentlessly to reverse the 2020 election results. Following which, Trump’s social media accounts, including Twitter and Facebook were blocked in order to prevent him from posting messages to his millions of followers.
(Image source: ©Kalkine Group 2020)
Trump had published a number of messages urging his supporters to fight against the counting of the electoral votes which would validate Biden's win. This ignited the riots further at the US Capitol building. Trump had also uploaded a video in which he addressed his supporters following the rioters stormed into the building.
Later, the building was secured and rioters were stopped but four people died, including one woman. Three tweets from Trump’s Twitter account were removed and the authorities suspended his account for 12 hours, stopping him from posting inflammatory stuff on social media platforms after he was found pushing conspiracy theories continuously about the election.
Initially, Twitter closed comments on Trump’s tweets or retweeted, but then ultimately removed his posts. The company had added a tag to the restricted post that read that the claim of election fraud was disputed, and the respective post cannot be replied to, retweeted, to avoid violence.
Not only was Trump’s account blocked, but the company also warned him that if he further violated any of the rules, it would result in permanent suspension of his Twitter account. However, Twitter also said that his account will be unlocked if Trump removed his tweets.
Later Facebook too followed Twitter’s steps. A Facebook spokesman said that Trump had been barred from posting on the social network for 24 hours after two of his posts were found violating the policy of the company. Both the social media websites, Facebook and YouTube removed Trump's video.
Vice President Integrity of Facebook, Guy Rosen, justified Facebook’s move in a tweet saying that it was an emergency situation and appropriate measures were being taken to contain violence.
He added that the posts were removed because the company believed it might contribute to ongoing violence instead of diminishing it.
The social media giant also exclaimed that the violent protests at the Capitol building were a disgrace and the platform prohibited incitement and calls for violence.
YouTube also stated that the video violated the company’s policies regarding its content that claimed widespread fraud in the US presidential elections.
In a subsequent tweet and video, Trump urged the protesters to move back to their homes but also added that he understood their pain. He added that though he loved his supporters, maintaining law and order was the need of the hour.
