What you need to know
- Both social networks have deleted the video posted by the President.
- The video featured the President asking his supporters who stormed the capital to go home.
- Both Facebook and Twitter have deleted the video, citing that it incited violence rather than suppressed it.
Update, January 6 (7:15 pm ET): Twitter has locked down President Donald Trump's account.
Today, a protest in Washington D.C. turned into a riot that involved supporters of United States President Donald Trump storming the United States Capitol, upending Congress' session to count the Electoral College votes certifying President-Elect Joe Biden's win of the United States presidential election.
In response to the violence and the attack on the U.S. Capitol, President Trump was pressured to speak against the violence. In a video posted to social media, the President did ask that his supporters go home but continued to claim that the election was fraudulent.
Facebook and Twitter have officially responded to the video in a manner that is unprecedented by either social network. Both companies have taken down the video. Guy Rosen, Vice President of Integrity at Facebook, says that Facebook removed the video because "we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence."
This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump's video. We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump's video. We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.— Guy Rosen (@guyro) January 6, 2021January 6, 2021
Twitter has also removed the video from its platform. Visiting the President's Twitter account simply states that the tweet is no longer available and links users to the company's General Guidelines and Policies page.
Both moves are notable for Facebook and Twitter, who have customarily kept the President's posts to each social network public, but would annotate them with notices that his claims may be disputed.
Update, January 6 (7:15 pm ET) — Twitter has locked down President Donald Trump's account.
The Twitter Safety account has announced that it has locked President Trump's Twitter account and that, in order to remove the lock, the President will need to remove three tweets that the social network has deemed violates its Civic Integrity policy. If President Trump does not remove the tweets, the account will continue to be locked.
This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked.This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked.— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021January 7, 2021
Twitter has stated that further violations of its rules and policies will result in the permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.
Update, January 6 (8:40pm ET) ― Facebook has also temporarily locked Trump's account due to violations
In a post to the company's Facebook Newsroom Twitter account, Facebook has announced that, due to two policy violations on its platform, President Donald Trump has been blocked from posting to his account for 24 hours.
We've assessed two policy violations against President Trump's Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time.We've assessed two policy violations against President Trump's Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time.— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) January 7, 2021January 7, 2021
