Twitter announced on Wednesday it would lock the account of President Donald Trump for 12 hours after Trump posted three tweets it said contained “repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy.”
Twitter added it would lock Trump’s account for 12 hours once he removes the tweets in question.
“If the tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked,” said the company, which further warned, “Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”
“Our public interest policy — which has guided our enforcement action in this area for years — ends where we believe the risk of harm is higher and/or more severe,” the company continued.
“We’ll continue to evaluate the situation in real time, including examining activity on the ground and statements made off Twitter. We will keep the public informed, including if further escalation in our enforcement approach is necessary.”
Twitter earlier removed the video of Trump in which he called on the protesters on Capitol Hill to disperse.
In a later tweet, which was also removed by Twitter, Trump asserted that the riots on Capitol Hill were caused by the election being “stripped away”, though he also once again called on the demonstrators to go home.
Twitter and Trump have been at loggerheads for month as the social media network has flagged and sometimes removed the President’s tweets.
In one incident, Twitter hid a tweet from Trump in which he threatened to use "serious force" against protesters in the US capital, saying it broke rules over abusive content.
Previously, it attached a warning to some of Trump’s tweets, prompting readers to fact-check the president’s claims.
In response, Trump signed an executive order aimed at increasing the ability of the government to regulate social media platforms.