Twitter gives Trump a temp ban after insurrectionists storm Capitol [Updated]

Enlarge /. Supporters of US President Donald Trump break the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Update, 7:10 p.m. EST: At 6:30 a.m., Twitter began removing several tweets from President Trump, including the video statement.

Enlarge /. A screenshot of Trump's account with offensive tweets removed.

"Due to the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, DC, we had to remove three @ realDonaldTrump tweets released today for repeated and serious violations of our Civic Integrity Policy," the company said. "This means that after removing these tweets, @realDonaldTrump's account will be suspended for 12 hours. If the tweets are not removed, the account will remain suspended."

Twitter warned the president clearly, adding, "Future violations of Twitter rules, including our civil integrity policy or violent threats, will result in your @ realDonaldTrump account being permanently banned. Our public interest policy – which guides our policies has had enforcement actions in this area for years – ending where we believe the risk of harm is higher and / or more severe. "

Update, 6:00 p.m. EST: Facebook removed a short video statement from President Donald Trump about the violence in what is now the District of Columbia from its platform. In the video, the president urged followers to "go home now" while continuing to show sympathy for the rioters, repeating the lie that the election was "fraudulent" and "stolen".

"This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate immediate action, including removing President Trump's video," said Guy Rosen, vice president of integrity for Facebook. "We removed it because we felt it would carry rather than reduce the risk of persistent violence."

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YouTube has also removed Trump's video from its service, according to a report by The Verge.

The video was also posted on Twitter, prompting a message titled, "This election fraud claim is controversial and this tweet cannot be replied to, retweeted, or liked due to the risk of violence."

Original story 4:35 PM EST: A growing chorus of groups and individuals are calling on Twitter to suspend President Donald Trump's account as a crowd of his supporters stormed and occupied the U.S. Capitol. Members of Congress are fleeing the session in which they will review the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Several groups of Trump supporters planned to meet for weeks in Washington, DC for a "Stop the Steal" rally to protest the results of the 2020 election and demand that Trump replace the actual President-elect, Joe Biden is determined as the winner won both the referendum and the electoral college.

Trump spoke to the crowd as Congress convened to begin formally confirming the vote of the electoral college. In his speech, Trump vowed "never to admit" and added, "It will never happen. You don't admit when it comes to death. Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore."

A short time later, rioters stormed the Capitol, resulting in the evacuation of Congress. The situation in the Capitol right now is both very topical and chaotic.

While President-elect Biden went on the air at 3 p.m. on EST hour to ask Trump to condemn the violence, Trump himself continues to only speak on Twitter.

At 2:24 p.m., during the height of the chaos, Trump blamed Vice President Mike Pence for repeatedly calling on Trump to find a way to invalidate the election results. "Mike Pence did not have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our Constitution, and to allow states to confirm a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones they had to certify beforehand. "Trump wrote. "USA demands the truth!"

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Twitter added a label to the tweet, saying, "This election fraud claim is controversial and this tweet cannot be replied to, retweeted, or liked due to the risk of violence."

"Extremists must be taken at their word"

The violence was well advanced, however, and several Twitter users immediately urged the company's CEO, Jack Dorsey, to crack down on the president's account.

"Extremists must be taken at their word," said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, in a written statement. "First there was volatile rhetoric online, then explicit calls for violence, and now people are acting on those calls in the capital of the country and openly breaking the law. It must end now. The president has promoted riot and instigated violence … Social media company should lock their accounts asap, like anyone else who advocates disinformation and encourages violence. It's time. "

Hundreds of Twitter users have used this platform to repeat the call. "Let me say without a doubt [Jack], if you don't lock Donald Trump's Twitter account for the next day, this mob attack on Congress is on you too," wrote Kara Swisher, technology reporter for the New York Times , and tagged Dorsey and other Twitter Safety executives. "I'm sorry, but he incited violence for days and used most of your tools, and you must act now. This is about the public safety and the safety of those now trapped in Congress. He has no part in the mob to calm him down, that is up to the police and the National Guard. "

Twitter issued a statement stating, "Regarding the current situation in Washington, DC, Twitter's Trust & Safety teams are working to protect public conversations on the service and will take action on content who are violating Twitter rules. Let's do this. " clear: threats and calls to violence have no place on Twitter and we will enforce our guidelines accordingly. "