In a big move, the microblogging site Twitter on Wednesday (local time) decided to lock US President Donald Trump's account in wake of the violent situation at the US Capitol in Washington.
Citing violation of its Civic Integrity Policy, Twitter said that it had required the removal of at least three of Trump's tweets that were posted earlier regarding the situation in Washington, adding that his account will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these tweets.
"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," said Twitter Safety in a tweet.
"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," it said in another tweet.
The microblogging site warned that future violations of Twitter rules will lead to a permanent suspension of Trump's account.
"Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account," said Twitter Safety.
Twitter also said that it will continue to evaluate the situation, including examining activity on the ground and statements made off Twitter.
For the first time, Twitter officially removed three of Trump's tweets, where he spoke on the violent protests at the US Capitol, while another deleted tweet had him saying Vice President Mike Pence lacked the "courage" to do what was necessary.
The removal comes after Facebook and YouTube removed Trump's video to supporters, and amid calls by the Anti-Defamation League and the NAACP for Trump's social media accounts to be suspended outright, reported CNN.
In a tweet, Facebook's VP of integrity Guy Rosen called this 'an emergency situation', and said that the video contributes to 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," tweeted Rosen.
In the one-minute video on Twitter, Trump said: "I know you are pained, I know you are hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us. That was a landslide election and everyone knows it, especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We've to have law and order. We don't want anybody hurt."
"This was a fraudulent election, but we can't play in the hands of these people. We have to have peace. So go home. We love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel. But go home and go home in peace," he added.
The tweet was immediately flagged by the microblogging site as the claim of election fraud was disputed. Twitter also restricted the post from being liked, retweeted or replied to, due to a risk of stoking violence.
This comes amid a violent and unprecedented situation in Washington where Trump supporters stormed in the Capitol building, seeking to overturn the Electoral vote count that certified President-elect Joe Biden's victory. The scuffle led to several people being injured, a lockdown of the Capitol building and evacuation of the Congressional buildings.
( With inputs from ANI )
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