Twitter deplatforms Donald Trump with a permanent account ban
- US President Donald Trump has been permanently banned from the popular social media platform Twitter
- Twitter banned Trump over tweets which were seen as an incitement to violence and have been blamed for the violence that swept the capitol earlier this week
- Critics of the outgoing president have accused Twitter of doing too little too late
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US President Donald Trump has lost the presidency and now he has lost his Twitter account. He had been extremely active on his account, connecting with his supporters directly and often delivering unfiltered content.
He had on more than one occasion caused controversy with his social media posts which ranged from increasing international tension to his opinions on how to handle domestic protests.
However, the @realdonaldtrump has gone too far, the messages he tweeted out to his supporters prior to the storming of the capitol buildings, which left four dead, earned him a temporary ban which has now become permanent.
Source: Getty Images
It took 57 000 tweets to eventually arrive at this point, with the last few tweets being viewed as an incitement to violence according to the Telegraph.
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account," Twitter said in a blog post explaining its decision, "we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence."
Trump's critics say that the ban is long overdue after his many controversial posts and that the ban is too little, too late according to International Business Times.
He tried to circumvent the ban by using the official presidential account @POTUS to send off tweets, accusing Twitter of conspiring with the radical left according to Sky News.
Twitter promptly deleted the tweets. Trump then tried to use the @TeamTrump campaign account but Twiter suspended this account as well.
Twitter stated that it was against their policies to continue to tweet using another account after being banned.
Trumps supporters have cried foul and say that the platform is denying the president his right to free speech, however, Twitter can decide what content is permissible on their platform.
Twitter viewed Trump's tweets that he would not attend the inauguration of Joe Biden as further proof that he is denying the results of the election, which in turn mobilised his support base.
The popular QAnon conspiracy theory among Trump supporters has also resulted in Twitter suspending Michael Flynn and other Trump supporters' accounts who were tweeting about it.
"The accounts have been suspended in line with our policy on Coordinated Harmful Activity," Twitter told AFP.
"Given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behaviour in the coming days, we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content."
The US capitol was plunged into chaos earlier this week when Trump supporters stormed the capitol buildings after Trump issued some controversial tweets.
In related news, President Donald Trump has finally conceded defeat to Joe Biden with the US President promising on an orderly transition to power on January 20.
The embattled and enraged president made this known in a statement he released on Thursday, January 7, after Biden, 78, was officially certified as the president of the United States.
Trump, however, maintained that he "totally" disagrees with the outcome of the election, adding that he will pursue justice even after leaving office.
Earlier Briefly.co.za reported that retired South African golfer Gary Player has caused outrage amongst South Africans after he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump after the siege at Capitol Hill in the US.
The 85-year-old's son, Marc, shared a few posts on Twitter about his father accepting the award from Trump. He stated that he "wished" his father had declined the award handed out to him and Annika Sorenstam.
South Africans have expressed their disdain towards Player for accepting the award given the current political climate in the US.
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Source: Briefly News
