The social media site said it had taken drastic action against the outgoing president because of the “risk of further incitement of violence” if it let him continue to use the platform.
Twitter said that it has seen “plans for future armed protests” on the site, including “a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on 17 January, 2021″.
“After a close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” the company’s Twitter Safety account tweeted.
Many reacted to the news with joy, with several celebrities praising the site for taking action against Trump.
Sacha Baron Cohen, who had spent days following the Capitol riots in Washington DC calling on social media giants to permanently block Trump, called it “the most important moment in the history of social media”.
He wrote: “The world’s largest platforms have banned the world’s biggest purveyor of lies, conspiracies and hate. To every Facebook and Twitter employee, user and advocate who fought for this–the entire world thanks you!”
On Thursday (7 January), Baron-Cohen praised Facebook – a site he has long been critical of – for banning Trump “indefinitely”.
Elsewhere, George Clooney said that the incident, which left five people dead, has put Trump and his family “into the dustbin of history”.
