*Twitter says President Trump broke rules by glorifying violence, as the global tech giant’s big stick marking the most high-profile punishment the company has ever imposed, and the end of Trump’s relationship with his favourite social media ‘megaphone’

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

For allegedly promoting and glorifying violence among the American populace, Twitter Inc. permanently, has banned outgoing United States President Donald Trump’s personal account for breaking its rules on ‘glorifying violence’.

The global tech giant’s big stick marks the most high-profile punishment the company has ever imposed and the end of Trump’s relationship with his favourite social media megaphone.

The company wrote in a blog post Friday, January 8, 2021, that “after close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”

Donald J.Trump Twitter Account now permanently blocked    Photo: Iambirmingham

Regarding the recent unprecedented invasion of the Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Trump was reported to have told violent protesters and ‘lawless extremists’ to ‘go home in peace’.

Subsequently, San Francisco-based Twitter announced the ban two days after Trump was initially suspended for posting a series of tweets that misled users about the US presidential election results, and appeared to encourage violent rioters who had mobbed the US Capitol.

Report indicates that one included a video message of Trump expressing love for the insurgents while calling the election “fraudulent.”

Earlier, Twitter had demanded that Trump delete three offending tweets, and warned at the time that he could be permanently blocked for subsequent rules violations. His account, which had more than 88 million followers, was however, restored Thursday, January 7.

But Trump’s posts Friday yet reportedly included a tweet saying he wouldn’t attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ─ and Twitter determined the tweets violated the company’s policies when “read in the context of broader events in the country.”

Trump earlier Friday had tweeted: “The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, ‘America First’, and ‘Make America Great Again’, will have a ‘Giant Voice’ long into the future.

“They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!”

The tech giant stated this was an indication that President Trump planned to continue supporting and empowering those who believe he won the November 2020 election.

Twitter then wrote: “Plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter, including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021.”

Twitter disclosed that it reviewed the tweets given “the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilised by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behaviour from this account in recent weeks.”

The company’s shares slipped about 3.8% in extended trading.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the permanent ban, report said.

Meanwhile, Trump’s suspension ends what has been the most controversial relationship Twitter has ever had with one of its users, according to report.

Hitherto, Trump often used his account to verbally attack opponents and spread misinformation in ways that broke the social network’s rules.

In some cases, Twitter created new rules specifically to accommodate the president’s reckless tweeting, including a special policy for world leaders, which put their rule-breaking tweets behind a filter instead of removing them entirely.

The company had begun to take a tougher stance on Trump’s tweets in recent months, especially on posts about ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.

The account of @realDonaldTrump has been permanently suspended from Twitter due to the risk of further violence.

We’ve also published our policy enforcement analysis – you can read more about our decision here: https://t.co/fhjXkxdEcw, said Twitter.