Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts suspended indefinitely, Twitter blocks him for 12 hours: social uprising after assault on Congress
The Facebook and Instagram accounts of outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump have been suspended indefinitely. A blockade that will last at least until next January 20, when new president-elect Joe Biden will take office in the White House.
After the assault on the U.S. Congress by President Trump’s supporters on January 6, social networks joined in an unprecedented decision: banning Trump. The posts were deemed to be incitements to violence, and that’s why social networks went into action with restrictive measures. If Twitter limited itself to blocking the tycoon for 12 hours and requesting the deletion of three posts, Zuckerberg opted for a more drastic measure: after an initial 24-hour block, he chose indefinite suspension. And Snapchat and Twitch have also deactivated Trump’s account for his incitements to violence.
Facebook and Instagram: Trump banned indefinitely
Facebook announced that it has found in Trump’s social pages two very serious violations of the rules of behavior set. In particular, Trump’s posts about his “stolen victory” and his “I love yous” to fans were considered incitements to violence that led to an assault on Congress by his supporters.
For this reason, Facebook first ordered a 24-hour block of accounts, including on Instagram, and then decided to impose the ban at least until January 20, the date of Biden’s insertion into the White House. An indefinite suspension, since Zuckerberg could decide to continue banning Trump from both Facebook and Instagram.
Twitter: Trump suspended for 12 hours
Tension is also high between Twitter and Trump. The social media outlet condemned his posts, demanded the removal of three messages that contained false statements and incited violence, and then ordered a 12-hour freeze on the account after the tweets were deleted. For now, the account remains active, but Twitter has warned the tycoon: if more rule violations are found, the suspension could be permanent.
Snapchat and Twitch: Trump’s account deactivated
Blocked indefinitely on Snapchat as well, with spokespeople saying they will continue to monitor the situation before reactivating Trump’s account.
On Twitch, on the other hand, Trump’s channel is visible and his previous content as well, but deactivated and the tycoon will no longer be able to start new streams. Already last June Trump had been suspended for two weeks for “offensive conduct”, while in the last few hours Twitch deleted the famous PogChamp emote, because the author of the emote encouraged further violence in Congress.
YouTube and TikTok: strikes and video restrictions
YouTube instead announced that all channels that publish videos with false claims about Joe Biden’s victory will receive a strike, that is a warning. There are thousands of videos removed from the platform in recent months that claimed there was election fraud, including the videos of Trump’s channel.
At the first strike, the channel will be temporarily suspended and will not be able to publish videos or do livestreaming, while after three strikes it will be permanently removed by YouTube, which says it is ready to apply sanctions to anyone, including the tycoon. TikTok instead has decided at the moment only to limit the diffusion of the videos of the assault on Congress.