SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Twitter Inc. said on Friday that it had permanently suspended U.S. President Donald Trump’s account, citing risks that any further tweets could lead to further violence after attacks on the U.S. Capitol.
“After 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 company said in a tweet.
The move comes one day after Facebook suspended any new posts to Facebook or Instagram by the president at least until he leaves office on January 20.
The suspension of Trump’s account, which had more than 88 million followers, silences his primary megaphone days before the end of his term and follows years of debate about how social media companies should moderate the accounts of powerful global leaders.
It was the first time Twitter has banned a head of state, the company confirmed.
In response to the suspension, Trump said in a tweet on the official @POTUS account that he would look at building his own platform.
Social media companies have moved swiftly to crack down on Trump and some of his prominent right-wing allies and supporters in the wake of the turmoil in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, which led to five deaths.
Trump has repeatedly used Twitter and other platforms to claim his defeat in the Nov. 3 election was due to widespread voter fraud and to share other conspiracy theories, and had urged supporters to come to Washington on Wednesday and march on the Capitol to protest the election result.
