Donald Trump banned from Twitter for 12 hours and barred from posting on Facebook

7 January 2021, 03:51 | Updated: 7 January 2021, 07:23

Donald Trump's Twitter account was suspended
Donald Trump's Twitter account was suspended. Picture: Twitter

By Asher McShane

Twitter has barred Donald Trump from posting on the platform for 12 hours after he praised the mob who stormed the US capitol building and said that he "loved" them.

Facebook also blocked Trump from their platform for 24 hours, and YouTube and Facebook removed similar posts.

Twitter locked Trump's account for the first time and demanded he remove tweets excusing violence, threatening him with "permanent suspension."

Facebook has joined Twitter in blocking President Donald Trump from posting, following the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters.

US President Donald Trump addresses supporters amid Capitol chaos

Twitter removed several of the President's posts. One of the deleted tweets read: 'These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long.

"Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!"

Trump claimed the election was 'stolen' and told rioters that he 'loved' them in a video which was also removed.

Another deleted tweet which Trump posted several hours earlier attacked Mike Pence for failing to stop the certification of Joe Biden's win.

President-elect Joe Biden denounces Capitol Hill violence

"Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!"

Twitter said the posts were removed "as a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C"

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"We have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy,' Twitter said in a statement.

"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."

A Facebook spokesman said: "We've assessed two policy violations against President Trump's Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time."