Twitter suspends Trump from tweeting for 12 hours over violations

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Twitter, Facebook freeze Trump accounts as tech giants respond to storming of U.S. capitol

FILE PHOTO: The Twitter logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE
Elizabeth Culliford

By Elizabeth Culliford

(Reuters) - Twitter said https://bit.ly/38iqbMP on Wednesday it had temporarily locked the account of U.S. President Donald Trump for 12 hours over "repeated and severe violations" of the social media platform's civic integrity rules and threatened permanent suspension.

Twitter said it required the removal of Trump's tweets "as a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C," after pro-Trump protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to force Congress to overturn the election result.

It said if the tweets, in which the president pushed baseless claims about the election, were not removed then the account would remain locked, meaning the president would be unable to tweet from @realDonaldTrump.

Twitter also said in a tweet that future violations of its rules, including its civic integrity or violent threats policy would result in the account's permanent suspension.

(Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese and Lincoln Feast)

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