Twitter Inc. said it is banning President Trump’s personal account, citing the risk of further incitement of violence and closing off one of his main communications tools following the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his followers.
The announcement late Friday capped two days of sharply escalated action by social-media companies in the wake of the riot in Washington, D.C., amid pressure on the platforms to do more to prevent additional violence.
Five people have died as a result of the riot.
Twitter had initially suspended Mr. Trump from posting on a temporary basis that Wednesday night, saying his tweets had violated its policies. The social-media company allowed him to resume posting on Thursday. Facebook Inc., which also announced a temporary suspension after the riot, announced Thursday that it would extend that action indefinitely—and at least through the end of Mr. Trump’s term. Many critics of the president had called on Twitter to take more severe action as well.
“After 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,” Twitter said in a blog post.
