Update, January 6 (7:30pm ET): Twitter has temporarily locked Trump's account.
Update, January 6 (8:30pm ET): Facebook has temporarily locked Trump's account.
What you need to know
- Trump posted a video addressing his supporters who rioted the U.S. Capitol.
- Facebook and YouTube were quick to restrict and remove the video from their sites.
- Twitter moderated the video for some time before removing it altogether.
The U.S. Capitol has been put on lockdown due to rioters storming the building in the wake of the ongoing presidential election certification. President Trump issued a number of tweets in response to the rioting, including a video asking his supporters to go home, despite not actually denouncing the violence that occurred. In the video, Trump continued his claims that the election was stolen and fraudulent, which prompted social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to take action to moderate and remove the video.
At first, Twitter restricted users from interacting with the video, stating that "this claim of election fraud is disputed, and this tweet can't be replied to, retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence." The video has since been removed, but unfortunately not before it was viewed more than 12 million times.
This has now been viewed more than 12 million times pic.twitter.com/cumRfzkMqHThis has now been viewed more than 12 million times pic.twitter.com/cumRfzkMqH— Damon Beres 🦇 (@dlberes) January 6, 2021January 6, 2021
Both YouTube and Facebook were quicker to remove the video from their sites. YouTube told The Verge that they're "working to quickly remove livestreams and other content that violates our policies, including those against incitement to violence or regarding footage of graphic violence." Facebook's Vice President of Integrity also made a statement about the decision:
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
When the riots began, lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol had been working to certify the election results that President Trump has been insistent on challenging since Joe Biden was announced the new president-elect. They plan to continue their count once the building has been secured.
Update, January 6 (7:30pm ET) ― Twitter has temporarily locked Trump's account due to violations
Following the removal of Trump's posts, including a video where he addressed his supporters and rioters of the U.S. Capitol, Twitter has placed a temporary lock on Trump's account, citing violations of Twitter's civic integrity policy.
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
His account is locked for 12 hours, but Trump could face permanent suspension for any future violations.
Update, January 6 (8:30pm ET) ― Facebook has also temporarily locked Trump's account due to violations
Facebook has also blocked Trump's account for 24 hours following the removal of his video. The ban will remain in place for 24 hours. Speaking to the NYT's Mike Isaac, a Facebook spokesperson said:
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.
