If he breaks the rules again, Twitter says it will permanently delete his account.
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After he instigated, encouraged, and ultimately failed to condemn an armed domestic terrorist insurrection Wednesday, Twitter locked President Donald Trump account in an unprecedented move.
As Trump-supporting rioters broke into and looted the U.S. Capitol, the social network first flagged Trump's tweets and prevented users from interacting with them "due to a risk of violence."
Later, the platform took an extra step and removed the offending tweets while temporarily locking Trump's account — or, in the colloquial language of the platform's user base, thrown him into "Twitter jail."
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
Now What?
According to Twitter, Trump's account will be unlocked until 12 hours after he deletes the offending tweets.
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
As of press time, it appears that Trump has yet to do so, meaning his account appears to remain dormant. If so, the earliest that he could regain access to the account would be late tonight, during a period of almost unprecedented political turmoil.
Fool Me Twice
Trump's tweets have been a major source of contention for the entirety of his presidency and years before it. He has frequently used his unfiltered social media presence to spread disinformation about his opponents, the coronavirus pandemic, and anything else related to his political agenda.
Now, with just a handful of days left in Trump's term — unless the growing support for a second impeachment or invocation of the 25th Amendment succeeds — Twitter has finally stepped in, warning that Trump's account will be deleted if he breaks the rules again.
More on Trump's Twitter account: Twitter Censors Trump Tweet "Due to Risk of Violence"
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