Twitter Bans Trump Amid Social Media Boycott
By Worthy News Breaking News Team George Whitten and Stefan J. Bos
(Worthy News) – Social network giant Twitter has permanently banned U.S. President Donald J. Trump because the free world leader allegedly violated its policies by inciting violence.
Twitter said the decision was made “after close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them.”
The firm expressed concern about “the risk of further incitement of violence” by Trump, who has 89 million followers.
Trump had earlier been locked out of his account for 12 hours after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in his name amid anger over alleged voter fraud.
The violence that killed 5 people forced Congress to interrupt, certifying the declared election victory of Joe Biden.
Legislators later continued proceedings to elect Biden as the 46th president of the United States ahead of his expected inauguration on January 20.
LAST TWEETS
In one of his last ‘tweets’ on Twitter, Trump confirmed he wouldn’t attend the ceremony. “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” he wrote shortly before being locked out from the platform.
In a reaction, Biden said Trump’s decision not to attend was “one of the few things he and I have ever agreed on” and that it would be a “good thing.”
Trump “exceeded” his “worst notions” about him, Biden added. “He’s been an embarrassment to the country… He’s not worthy to hold that office.”
Biden extended an invitation to Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over the certification of Biden’s election victory. “I would be honored to have him there,” Biden said.
Reacting to the permanent Twitter ban, Trump 2020 campaign adviser Jason Miller tweeted: “Disgusting… if you don’t think they’re coming for you next, you’re wrong.”
Twitter cited Trump’s announced decision not to attend the inauguration as among the final straws to suspend him permanently after a 12-hour ban.
The other tweet the company cited was: “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!!!”
‘VIOLENCE POLICY’
Twitter said his tweets were “being received by a number of his supporters as further confirmation that the election was not legitimate.” The company said both of these tweets were “in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy.”
Earlier on Friday, Twitter permanently banned two Trump loyalists: former national security adviser Michael Flynn and attorney Sidney Powell.
Twitter’s move came after Facebook said it had suspended Trump “indefinitely.” The popular gaming platform Twitch also placed an indefinite ban on the outgoing president’s channel, which he used for rally broadcasts. Platform Snapchat also banned President Trump.
Two online Trump memorabilia stores were reportedly closed this week by e-commerce company Shopify. On Friday, social network Reddit banned its “donaldtrump” forum for the president’s supporters.
Separately tech giant Google suspended Parler – a self-styled “free speech” rival to Twitter that is increasingly popular with Trump supporters – from its online store.
“We’re aware of continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the US,” claimed Google.
BROADER BIAS?
Trump had long warned of what he viewed as a bias towards conservative content by social media. In recent days, prominent conservative commentators were claiming that they were losing Twitter followers in droves, with some asserting is deleting their following.
Brandon Straka, who leads a #WalkAway movement calling for people to abandon the political left, observed thousands of followers leaving him. “I’m now down almost 13K followers in 28 hours,” Mr. Straka tweeted early Friday morning. “At this rate, I’ll roll back to zero by Sunday. It was nice knowing y’all, everybody! Guess I’ll say my goodbyes now! lol.”
James Woods, an actor and pro-Trump conservative commentator alleged already on Thursday that he lost thousands of followers and blamed Twitter.
“Twitter, the ‘public forum’ for free speech, has deleted 15,000 followers from my account in the last few hours,” Woods wrote on Twitter Thursday. “There is no point engaging in a national conversation on a ‘forum’ that is, in actual fact a propaganda organ. God Bless America.”
Twitter confirmed it impacted the number of followers in a statement carried by The Washington Times newspaper. “As part of our work to protect the integrity of the conversation on Twitter, we regularly challenge accounts to confirm account details such as email and phone number,” the spokesperson said. “Until the accounts confirm additional account information, they are in a locked state and do not count towards follower counts.”
VENTING GRIEVANCES
Amid the controversy, several mainstream media outlets, including Britain’s BBC network expressed understanding for Twitter’s approach.
President “Trump used Twitter to insult adversaries, cheer allies, fire officials, deny “fake news” and vent grievances, often using all capital letters and exclamation marks to underline his point, the BBC wrote.
“But it’s also because his power is very quickly slipping away. He is now being treated like an ordinary member of the public,” explained James Clayton, the BBC’s North America technology reporter. “And as mere mortal, repeatedly spreading disinformation, fake news, and inciting violence will get you thrown off mainstream social media platforms,” he added.
For those who say this violates frees speech enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution, he had an answer. “Big Tech’s argument is that they are private companies, not state actors. So, they are free to moderate their platforms as they see fit,” Clayton wrote.
“The big question now is, can Trumpism survive without the backing of mainstream media? Or will it simply slip into the shadows of the internet?”
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