Twitter permanently blocked Donald Trump’s account

The day before yesterday, we wrote that many American social networks and platforms temporarily blocked the accounts of Donald Trump, stating that this was due, among other things, to the inciting activities of the still incumbent US president regarding his successor.

The blockings were supposedly temporary, but Twitter decided to be the first to go further and announced a permanent block.

After careful analysis of recent tweets from @realDonaldTrump and the context around them – in particular, how they are accepted and interpreted on Twitter and beyond – we have permanently blocked the account due to the risk of further incitement to violence.

In the context of the horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of Twitter rules could potentially lead to just such consequences. Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear directly from elected officials and world leaders. It is built on the principle that people have the right to hold power openly.

However, we made it clear a few years ago that these accounts are not above our rules and cannot use Twitter, among other things, to incite violence. We will continue to ensure transparency of our policies and their compliance

In the same press release, Twitter cites a couple of messages from Donald Trump, which, according to the company, violate the rules of the community so much that the corresponding account really should have been blocked forever.

Among other things, it says that these messages can inspire others to repeat the acts of violence that took place on January 6, 2021, and that there are several indicators that they are accepted and perceived as an encouragement to do so.

Given the seriousness of Twitter’s move, it can be assumed that several other platforms will follow suit. However, it is not a fact that in the end these decisions will not be challenged in court in the context of violations of freedom of speech.

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