Twitter, Facebook lock Trump’s accounts following a video post commending rioters

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• A recent video post showed Trump reiterating baseless claims that the election was a fraud urging his supporters to disband following the violence at the Capitol.
• Twitter also cautioned the president that further abuse of its rules could result in the indefinite banning of Trump’s account.
• In its statement, YouTube explained that Trump’s video post went against the policies by publishing contents alleging the massive election fraud.

On Wednesday, Twitter took down three posts from President Donald Trump and slapped a 12-hour suspension to his account after he continually pushed unfounded claims about the election after demonstrators flocked the U.S. Capitol.

The social media platform also warned that more violations of its guidelines could lead to the permanent banning of the president’s Twitter account.

One of the tweets included a video of Trump restating unsubstantiated claims about the election. He was also seen urging his followers to break up following the violence that went off at the Capitol, adding that order is needed.

YouTube and Facebook also followed suit by removing the video from the accounts of Trump. Facebook announced it would not allow posting from the president’s account within 24 hours because of violating two policies.

Twitter deleted Trump’s post after it firstly barred it from being retweeted or responded with.  The platform also added a tag saying the claim about the election scheme is doubtful. Twitter also erased the succeeding tweets by President Trump.

Twitter clarified through official accounts that if Trump takes down the tweets, his account will be restored. The official government account of Trump on Twitter, which he seldomly use, was still active.

The series of deletions is one of the steps the companies took to curtail the communication of political figures including the president. Facebook and Twitter have installed fact-check tags on some of the earlier posts by Trump, including what rules are violated. Twitter, in the past, has provisionally restricted both his personal and campaign accounts.

In a statement, YouTube said the video violated the policies about content alleging massive fraud or errors that changed the election results.

Meanwhile, Facebook said that the intense demonstrations in the Capitol that day is a shame, adding the platform forbid agitation and calls for violence. The company said they were reviewing and deleting any content that breaks their policies.

Facebook’s vice president, Guy Rosen, tweeted the situation is an emergency, and they will take the necessary steps,  including the removal of  Trump’s video.

The safety team of Twitter published a statement saying promoting violence was an abuse of its rules.

The video was posted around 4:17 p.m., barely three hours after Trump urged his followers to flock to the Capitol.

Source: NBC News