Ultimately, it took a few tweets inciting a riotous mob to lay siege to the U.S. Capitol to get the president temporarily kicked off of Twitter. On January 6, Twitter announced that it has “required the removal†of three tweets from Donald Trump’s personal account, @realDonaldTrump, due to “repeated and severe violations of [Twitter’s] Civic Integrity policy,†including a video in which he once again falsely claimed that the results of the 2020 election were fraudulent. Trump’s account will also be locked for 12 hours after Trump removes said tweets, which have already been made unavailable to the public. If Trump does not remove the tweets, his account “will remain locked.†Trump’s favorite social media platform went so far as to threaten him with a “permanent suspension†if the president commits any “future violations†of the Twitter Rules. While Trump’s tweets from earlier today have been removed, the @realDonaldTrump account has not been suspended and all Trump’s other tweets are remain available for public consumption. Also, the official Twitter account for the president, @POTUS, is still up and running, though it’s unclear whether Trump has access to it at this time.
Facebook also gave Trump a slap on the wrist for his fraudulent social media posts. After the president shared the aforementioned video message on Facebook, the social media platform removed the video and blocked Trump for 24 hours. “This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video,†tweeted Guy Rosen, the VP of Integrity at Facebook. “We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.†So, there you have it: Trump cannot post on Twitter or Facebook for the time being, but still has access to the nuclear codes.
Update, January 7: Donald Trump’s temporary suspension from Facebook just got a lot longer. Publishing a statement on his personal Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg wrote that Trump’s suspension will be extended “for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.†This applies to Instagram, a Facebook-owned platform, as well. “We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,†Zuckerberg explained. “His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world.†Zuckerberg also acknowledged that while Trump’s posts and videos generally aligned with Facebook’s rules in the past, “the current context is now fundamentally different, involving use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.â€
Additionally, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed to CNN that Trump deleted the three tweets that prompted the temporary lock of his Twitter account. As such, Trump can begin tweeting again as early as today.