Twitter locks Trump’s account over ‘policy violation’
01/08/2021 / By Nolan Barton
Twitter blocked President Donald Trump from posting on his account for 12 hours over “repeated and severe violations” of the social media giant’s civic integrity policy. It requires Trump to remove three tweets, adding that the account will remain locked if the president fails to comply.
Twitter did not specify which of Trump’s tweets violated the policy.
Trump’s video tweet calling for peace and urging protesters at the U.S. Capitol to go home also received a number of restrictions from the social media platform.
A message appears just below the video whenever someone tries to engage with the post. It reads: “This claim of election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence.”
But users can still “quote tweet” – or share the video by adding text to their post – according to the platform’s restriction. The video clip that lasts just over one minute already garnered 6.2 million views.
This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked.
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021
But Twitter did not clarify specifically which of Trump tweets violated Twitter’s civic integrity policy.
In a video addressing the protesters, Trump said: “You have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order and great people in law (enforcement).”
Trump followed this up with further tweets calling for peaceful behavior after the chaos at the Capitol.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1346912780700577792
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1346904110969315332
Twitter has been frequently criticized for its unbalanced policing of its users’ posts, particularly Trump’s. (Related: Twitter censors Trump interview on coronavirus – but not Chinese misinformation.)
Biden, Congress leaders condemn protesters
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and top leaders in Congress condemned the protesters who breached the Capitol building.
In a televised address, Biden said Trump should go on television now to address the protesters and tell them to go home. He characterized the protest as an “insurrection” that was “bordering on sedition.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called the described sudden violence as “un-American.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) jointly called on Trump to “demand that all protestors leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol grounds immediately.”
Some lawmakers were still in shock after Capitol Police had told those in the House chamber to take gas masks from beneath their seats and prepare to put them on. Officers at the front door of the House chamber had their guns drawn as someone attempted to enter. Officers ordered people in the chamber to drop to the floor for their safety.
Press Secretary Kaleigh McEnany said in a statement that the president has authorized the national guard to go to the U.S. Capitol.
With the protesters swarming the Capitol building, the joint session of Congress came to a pause. The lawmakers were debating on whether to certify the states’ electoral results when the session was abruptly ended. They were locked down to safety before reconvening to resume the session Wednesday night.
The certification joint session in Congress is expected to extend for several hours as some Republican lawmakers are objecting to Electoral College votes in several disputed states over concerns of election irregularities and allegations of voter fraud.
For more on how social media companies like Twitter are blocking President Donald Trump and other conservatives, follow Censorship.news.
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Tagged Under: Capitol Police, Congress, Donald Trump, Electoral College, Joe Biden, joint session, Twitter, Twitter's civic integrity policy, U.S. Capitol
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