Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) Employees Lock Their Accounts Over Backlash From Trump Supporters

Some Twitter Inc. (NYSE:TWTR) staff have locked their accounts and cleaned their online biographies for fear of backlash from President Trump supporters. Equally the company has provided some executives personal security following the decision to ban Trump from the site.

Twitter banned Trump permanently 

In a statement on January 8, twitter indicated that it had permanently suspended @realDonaldTrump accounts because of the risk of further incitement following the Capitol insurgence. According to the company, President Trump had used the platform to incite his supporters to attack the Capitol by telling them to “show strength and fight much harder.” Trump indicated that Vice President Mike Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should be done” and while the attack was going on, Trump tweeted “we love you” to his supporters. 

Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, who was working remotely from French Polynesia on the day of the attack indicated that initially he wasn’t convinced about a temporary ban on President Trump. For years, Dorsey has held a liberal view regarding terminating Trump’s account arguing that the platform is free to allow leaders to air their views even if they are heinous. After the attack twitter executives informed Dorsey that Trump’s tweets after the attack suggested the possibility of more violence. 

Twitter employees signed a petition to ban trump 

According to the New York Times, over 300 employees signed a petition calling for the suspension of Trump’s account. At that point, the company had decided to ban Trump permanently. Dorsey said that the ban was the right move considering offline violence due to online speech was real. He added that they are not proud to ban Trump but after a series of warning that the company would take such action, Twitter made the decision based on threats on and off the platform. 

Following Twitter’s ban, Facebook and Twitch issued indefinite bans on Trump’s accounts while Snapchat also issued a permanent ban. Facebook indicated in a statement that the risks of allowing Trump to continue using its platform were high. Shopify also took down Make America Great Again merchandise and hats campaign store.