San Francisco, United States: In a rather unprecedented step, Twitter and Facebook Inc on Wednesday temporarily locked the accounts of US President Donald Trump, as tech giants scrambled to crack down on his baseless claims about the US presidential elections amid riots at the US Capitol.

Twitter hid and required the removal of three of Trump’s tweets “as a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C.,” after pro-Trump protesters entered the US Capitol in an attempt to force Congress to block the appointment of President-elect Joe Biden.

Twitter said that future violations by Trump would result in a permanent suspension.

Facebook later tweeted it would block Trump’s page from posting for 24 hours due to two policy violations.

Earlier in the day, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube all removed a short video from Trump in which he urged the supporters on Wednesday to go home while also repeating falsehoods about the integrity of the presidential election.

Trump posted that video more than two hours after protesters entered the Capitol, interrupting lawmakers meeting in an extraordinary joint session to confirm the Electoral College results and President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Guy Rosen, Facebooks vice president of integrity, said on Twitter Wednesday that the video was removed because it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.

(With agency inputs)