U.S. News

Multiple Social Media Platforms Ban President Trump

Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and other tech giants expel the president from their sites

Reporter Kelsie Henderson

As a result of the infamous Capitol building raid, Trump has been suspended or even banned from multiple social media outlets. This suspension has people feuding over if this is the right choice.

The most famous of the bans has been from Twitter, from which it seems the president will not be returning. He has also been banned from Facebook, Google, Reddit, Twitch, Shoppify, Youtube, Snapchat, and Tiktok, with more bans possibly on the way.

Many companies have spoken up about why they banned or suspended the president from their platform, the majority claiming that the ban is to “minimize violence” and “keep everything peaceful” (according to press releases from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, respectively.)

Companies have also gotten a split response from this ban, some claiming that it was long overdue while others saying that the bans are censorship and biased.

Many social media sites, like Twitter, have been hinting at this ban for a while. Under the President’s tweets about the election being fraudulent, a fact-check message would clarify “this claim about election fraud is disputed.”

Twitter first suspended the president from their platform for twelve hours, and two days later declared that they were permanently banning him from their platform. The platform also later suspended @POTUS, the official account for the presidency, and his @TeamTrump campaign account after Trump attempted to try to avoid the ban.

Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, was subjected to a 12-hour ban until he removed a tweet in July, which included a video clip purporting the effects of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine against the novel coronavirus. Twitter said this violated its Covid-19 misinformation policy. His account is now active.

Facebook and Instagram suspended Trump for twelve hours after he published a video responding to the Capitol raiders to go home, saying “we love you, you’re very special.” Later that day, Mark Zuckerberg declared that the president would be banned from the platforms through at least the presidential transition.