Following a temporary block on Donald Trump’s account this week, Twitter has made the bold call to permanently ban the sitting President, citing the unacceptable risk of him inciting further national violence.
“Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open,” Twitter said in a statement.
“However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules and cannot use Twitter to incite violence. We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement.
“In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action.
“After a close review of recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
The siege of Capitol Hill on Wednesday led by pro-Trump protesters and initially encouraged by the president resulted in the fatal shooting of a woman.
Many of the protesters wore shirts and hats emblazoned with Trump’s infamous slogan ‘Keep America Great’ and waved ‘Trump 2020’ flags.
Rioters broke down barricades and swarmed the halls of the Capitol building, smashing windows and assaulting police officers to enter the Senate chamber where the election results were being certified. It’s being recognised as one of the worst security breaches in US history.
In an internal letter addressed to CEO Jack Dorsey and his top executives last week, roughly 350 Twitter employees demanded a clear account of the company’s decision-making process when it came to Trump’s conduct.