RTWed, 06 Jan 2021 22:52 UTC
© Reuters/jim BourgPolice push Trump supporters away from the US Capitol
January 6, 2021
After some of his supporters stormed Congress, US President Donald Trump said they had been wronged and mistreated but should go home in peace and "remember this day forever,"
as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube restricted his posts."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,"
Trump tweeted on Wednesday evening, as protesters were leaving the US Capitol and a curfew went into effect. "Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!" he urged.
© Twitter
Twitter first restricted interactions with the tweet citing "risk of violence," - along with the perfunctory denunciation of Trump's claims about the election as "disputed" -
before deleting it altogether for "violating Twitter rules."
Earlier,
Facebook had deleted outright a video posted by Trump calling for people to peacefully retreat from Capitol Hill, also citing fear of "violence." YouTube likewise removed the video, saying it violated its recently announced policy "regarding content that alleges widespread election fraud."
Hundreds of demonstrators broke through the security fence around the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon, eventually making their way through the Capitol Police and breaching the Senate and House chambers and offices. One woman was shot by police and later died.
The lawmakers, who had been meeting to formally certify Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election - which Trump maintains was plagued by fraud in half a dozen states - interrupted the session and were evacuated to the nearby Fort McNair Army installation.
Thousands of the president's supporters had gathered in Washington, DC on Wednesday to protest the "stolen" election and demand of Congress to not certify the votes.
Citing the unrest, a number of Democrats have called for impeaching Trump again and expelling any Republicans who might back him, while GOP members rushed to denounce attacks on "our democracy" and vowed to back Biden.
Comment: The JJJ:
Social Media becomes Judge, Jury and Jailer of messaging - our constitutional right:
Twitter: Trump's tweets were characterized as: "repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy."
Facebook and YouTube have also deleted the video message Trump sent on Wednesday, seeking to talk down several hundred protesters who broke into the Capitol building and briefly occupied the chambers of the Senate, House of Representatives and congressional offices.
Facebook's vice president of integrity, Guy Rosen, deemed the situation an "emergency," saying the platform pulled the video because it "contributes to, rather than diminishes, the risk of ongoing violence."
Trump's last tweet, which was first labeled as "risk of violence" and then deleted by the platform, urged his supporters to "go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!" However, it also said that "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."
This apparently violated the policy of all social media platforms that the 2020 election results are not to be questioned.
Power increases as checks, balances and competition fade away. Level the playing field! Exercise choice by boycotting these behemoths of control and join platforms that uphold freedom of speech and the rights of the public. If we don't, there will be NO choice.
UPDATE 7/1/2021: Mark Zuckerberg offered this loaded and slanderous comment on
Facebook:
"The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden.
"His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world. We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect -- and likely their intent -- would be to provoke further violence.
"Following the certification of the election results by Congress, the priority for the whole country must now be to ensure that the remaining 13 days and the days after inauguration pass peacefully and in accordance with established democratic norms.
"Over the last several years, we have allowed President Trump to use our platform consistent with our own rules, at times removing content or labeling his posts when they violate our policies. We did this because we believe that the public has a right to the broadest possible access to political speech, even controversial speech. But the current context is now fundamentally different, involving use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.
"We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete."
UPDATE 7/1/2021: Twitch and Shopify follow Facebook's lead
banning Trump and MAGA merchandize under the excuse of 'protecting our community':
Twitch announced they have disabled Trump's account indefinitely, preventing him from streaming videos to his followers. A spokesperson for the company cited Wednesday's Capitol Hill protests as the reason behind the decision.
"Given the current extraordinary circumstances and the president's incendiary rhetoric, we believe this is a necessary step to protect our community and prevent Twitch from being used to incite further violence," the spokesperson said.
E-commerce website Shopify also pulled down multiple stores affiliated with the president and selling pro-Trump merchandise on Thursday. A spokesperson for the company said they do not tolerate "actions that incite violence" and determined that the president had violated their Acceptable Use Policy, which "prohibits promotion or support of organizations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence to further a cause."
Comment: The JJJ: Social Media becomes Judge, Jury and Jailer of messaging - our constitutional right: Power increases as checks, balances and competition fade away. Level the playing field! Exercise choice by boycotting these behemoths of control and join platforms that uphold freedom of speech and the rights of the public. If we don't, there will be NO choice.
UPDATE 7/1/2021: Mark Zuckerberg offered this loaded and slanderous comment on Facebook: UPDATE 7/1/2021: Twitch and Shopify follow Facebook's lead banning Trump and MAGA merchandize under the excuse of 'protecting our community':