TWITTER has immediately and permanently banned President Trump over a pattern of behaviour that social media giants claim violated company rules.
In a written statement, the privately-owned company said:
“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.
“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.
“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.”
Trump has meanwhile also been banned indefinitely from Facebook – losing the outgoing President millions of followers and a vital platform and communication link between himself, voters, and his crucial supporter/fanbase.
Attempting to circumnavigate this, Trump tweeted four messages from the @POTUS account – all swiftly taken down.
In the posts, which Trump also shared in a written statement, he accused Twitter of banning free speech.
“Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me — and YOU, the 75,000,000 great patriots who voted for me,” he said.
He also echoed complaints about a legal shield, known as Section 230, that has long protected tech companies from lawsuits over what is posted on its sites, and vented his general anger and frustration over the ban.
“Twitter may be a private company, but without the government’s gift of Section 230 they would not exist for long,” the president wrote.
