Twitter (Twitter) late on Jan. 6 deleted recent posts by President Trump (Trump), including a video of him calling on protesters gathered at the Capitol in Washington to return home peacefully on Wednesday, and blocked his account. Subsequently, Facebook (Facebook) took similar steps.
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, during a joint session of Congress, there was a break-in and a confrontation at the Capitol. The election certification process was interrupted, lawmakers were evacuated and the Capitol was locked down for a time.
Trump then tweeted a call to oppose violence and maintain peace, and instructed the National Guard to rush to the capital, Washington D.C. However, this Trump tweet was deleted by Twitter, which then announced the decision to block Trump’s account.
One of the tweets included a video of Trump speaking. He told his supporters that I know how hurt you are, that the election was stolen, but still called for law and order and said “you have to go home now” and “we don’t want to see anyone get hurt.
The president followed up the video with a tweet saying, “These things and events are the result of a sacred and overwhelming victory that was so unceremoniously and viciously denied. For too long, great patriots have been treated unjustly.”
But he also called on the protesters to “go home with love and peace” and to “remember this day forever.
In a statement, Twitter said, “Due to the unprecedented and ongoing violence in Washington, D.C., we are asking that the three @realDonaldTrump tweets posted earlier today be removed as they repeatedly and seriously violate our Civic Integrity Policy.”
“This means that upon removal of these tweets, @RealDonaldTrump’s account will be locked for 12 hours. If the tweets are not deleted, the account will remain locked,” Twitter said, adding that “future violations of Twitter rules, including our Civic Integrity or Threats of Violence policies, will result in permanent deactivation of the @realDonaldTrump account.”
Then Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram followed suit, putting Trump’s account on temporary lockdown.
Although Trump, in the video, did not call on the public to use violence; instead, Trump asked the public to respect law and order and return home peacefully. However, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, have all deleted the president’s video.
In a statement to New Media, a Facebook spokesperson said, “Today’s violent protests at the Capitol are a disgrace. We prohibit incitement and calls for violence on our platform. We are actively reviewing and removing any content that violates these rules.”
“This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate and urgent steps, including removing the video of President Trump. We are removing it because on balance, we believe it will increase, not decrease, the risk of violence.” Facebook Vice President Guy Rosen tweeted.
President Trump’s last tweet
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