MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Is Donald Trump on Parler? Twitter locks account, Facebook and YouTube take down video 'praising' Capitol protesters

The Twitter lockout, which will last for 12 hours, also included a warning that Trump could be subject to a permanent suspension if he incites violence

Social media platform Twitter has now locked President Donald Trump out of his account for the first time late on Wednesday, November 6. This is the most punitive step the social media giant has taken so far against the president on a day of social unrest and violence in Washington. Now, the internet wants to know if POTUS is on far right-wing supporters' platform called Parler.

The Twitter lockout, which will last for 12 hours, also included the elimination of three tweets and a warning that Trump could be subject to a permanent suspension if he continues tweeting baseless conspiracy theories about the election and incites violence. Trump, who has long stoked anger over baseless accusations of a stolen election, called for calm on Twitter as Wednesday's Capitol riot halted a process to certify Joe Biden as the next president of the United States. But his plea came in a now-removed video that was itself laced with disinformation, and he shared the message only after most of the mob had been pushed outside the building — leaving a trail of online and offline discord. The action is the most aggressive one yet from Twitter and it comes after the social media giant joined Facebook and YouTube in removing a video post from Trump’s account in which the president praised the protesters.

Twitter Safety tweeted on Wednesday: "As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy." It further added: "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," and "Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account."

In the now-deleted video, Trump addressed a mob of his supporters, calling for "peace" and telling them to "go home" but continued to tout the false narrative that the election was "stolen". "I know your pain. I know you're hurt. We had an election that was stolen from us," he claimed in the video. The president continued in the video, "But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don't want anybody hurt," he said, before reverting to a message of defiance. "...There's never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us, from me, from you, from our country. But we can't play into the hands of these people," he told his supporters. "We love you. You're very special. You see what happens you see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel, but go home and go home in peace." 

As soon as the news of the social media websites showing a red flag to Trump made its way online, people started talking about it, as one internet user requested him to join Parler and said, "Once again I’m urging @realDonaldTrump to join Parler. Here on Twitter, there will always be a Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. Trump can really help build a social media alternative to Twitter, just by signing up and posting there as well as here @DanScavino." While another Trump supporter wrote, "President Trump should immediately create a parler accoint. Who is with me?!"

Sharing a screenshot of Twitter's message for Trump, one said, "How will Trump incite rioting and violence to overthrow American democracy now? It looks like he, too, will have to move to Parler." While one joked, "Trump is moving to Parler, which is like OKCovid dot com. Or OKKKK dot com."

One person delightfully wrote, "Knowing Trump can't tweet right now is delicious." While one informed, "Trump's about to sign up for his Parler account."

One supported said, "Parler is more confusing to use that Twitter but if Trump goes, I go too, I only joined twitter to support my President." Another one said, "Trump needs to get on Parler and communicate with us."