Capitol Attack: Twitter, Facebook Block Donald Trump's Accounts

Popular social media platforms Twitter and Facebook have blocked President Donald Trump from their platforms following his tweet to supporters that instigated them to attack the US Capitol.

In a social media message to protesters, he said "I love you" before telling them to go home. He also repeated false claims about election fraud.

Twitter said it required the removal of three tweets for "severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy".

As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy. https://t.co/k6OkjNG3bM

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021

The company said the president's account would remain locked for good if the tweets were not removed.

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, 2021

It went on to say that "Future violations of the Twitter Rules... will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account".

Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021

It means Donald Trump's days on Twitter could be numbered. The president is not known for paying much attention to Twitter's community guidelines.

Meanwhile, Facebook banned Trump for 24 hours. YouTube also removed the video.

The VP of Integrity on Facebook, Guy Rosen on his Twitter handle said: “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, 2021

His supporters stormed the seat of US government and clashed with police, leading to the death of one woman.

The violence brought to a halt congressional debate over Democrat Joe Biden's election win.

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In the House and Senate chambers, Republicans were challenging the certification of November's election results.

Before the violence, President Trump had told supporters on the National Mall in Washington that the election had been stolen.

Hours later, as the violence mounted inside and outside the US Capitol, he appeared on video and repeated the false claim.

He told protesters "I love you" and described the people who stormed the Capitol complex as "patriots".

YouTube said it removed the video because it "violated policies on spreading election fraud".

Twitter initially didn't take down the video, instead removing the ability to retweet, like and comment on it and another tweet.

However, it later removed them, and suspended the outgoing president.

Twitter said: "We have been significantly restricting engagement with Tweets labelled under our Civic Integrity Policy due to the risk of violence".

Facebook told the BBC: "The violent protests in the Capitol today are a disgrace. We prohibit incitement and calls for violence on our platform. We are actively reviewing and removing any content that breaks these rules."

Facebook also said it is currently looking for and removing content that incited or supported the storming of Capitol Hill.

YouTube already had a policy to remove fake news about mass election fraud, which it applied to the president.

The march was partly organised online, including on Facebook groups and pages.

It's likely President-elect Joe Biden will look to crack down on conspiracy theories and extremism on social media when he takes office.