In light of the recent Capitol siege by Trump supporters, social media platforms have explicitly censored President Trump’s posts, and it’s a first too.
Twitter has removed President Donald Trump’s two most recent tweets and has replaced them with a disclaimer, “This Tweet is no longer available,” along with a link to learn more about the site’s policy on the violation of Twitter Rules.
Following the move, YouTube and Facebook have also removed a video from the president, stating the action appropriate emergency measures which included removing President Trump’s video given the emergency situation.
YouTube stated that the clip violates the platform’s policies and thus has been removed because of “alleging widespread fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Election.”
Twitter Safety has further added that Trump’s account would be locked for 12 hours post removal of the tweets. However, his account will remain locked indefinitely unless he removes the tweets.
Unlike Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have banned President Trump from the platforms for 24 hours post removal of the video.
Facebook’s former chief security officer, Alex Stamos, has justified the move by the respective social media platforms and said that it’s the right time for both Twitter and Facebook to limit Trump’s reach.
He wrote, “Twitter and Facebook have to cut him off. There are no legitimate equities left and labelling won’t do it.”
Read more: US Presidential Candidate Kanye West Breaks Down During Campaign Rally Over Wife
The Story Behind This Censorship
The attack began around 1 p.m while Congress convened to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Trump has refused to concede his defeat in the 2020 presidential election claiming voter fraud, although many of the lawsuits have already been dismissed on the grounds of thin evidence.
Trump called on his supporters in a speech outside the White House and urged them to head to the Capitol and protest the certification of Joe Biden’s presidency.
As if answering to his command, a group of thousands at the Capitol crashed through the metal barriers and then the steps.
Since minimal law enforcement was deployed, the mob quickly overwhelmed the police and surged inside, and then throughout the building.
Capitol Police said an officer shot at the group trying to break into the House Chamber, resulting in the death of a woman rioter. Three other people also died of unspecified “medical emergencies” while fourteen D.C. police officers had been injured.
Due to the chaos, the certification vote was disrupted, and senators were rushed to an undisclosed location for their safety along with the box of the electoral college votes.
Not so surprisingly, Trump remained silent during the first hour after the onset of the incited attack after which he took to Twitter to post a few tweets calling on the mob to be peaceful, which by then had already assaulted the police and stormed the House Chamber.
More than three hours after the attack, Trump finally decided to release a video statement in which he said that he loved them, repeated his false claims of voter fraud and that the election had been stolen before finally urging the mob to go home.
Although the US Capitol is once again secure, it comes at the cost of four people who are dead, including one woman. Joe Biden has called this a dark moment in American history. He said that it’s an unprecedented assault on democracy and is unlike anything in modern times.
The scenes of chaos at the capitol do not reflect the true America. Biden tried to defend the US through his tweets, which is currently a laughing stock after this incident or perhaps since President Trump refused to concede his defeat gracefully in the 2020 presidential elections.
Image Credits: Google Images, Unsplash
Sources: National Geography, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Intelligencer
Find the blogger at: @sejalsejals38
This post is tagged under: US Presidential Election 2020, President Trump, Voter Fraud, Presidential elect Joe Biden, Joe Biden, Washington D.C, Capitol building, House Chambor, US Siege, Mob attack on Capitol building, Mob attack, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, censored President Trump posts, Censorship, US, US democracy, Chaos
