Rush Limbaugh deactivates Twitter account after Trump, Mike Flynn and Sidney Powell get permanently banned
Another one of Donald Trump's strongest supporters is nowhere to be found. Rush Limbaugh deactivated his Twitter account according to a report that confirmed the news that the account was "deactivated by the owner" and not suspended by Twitter.
Twitter permanently banned Trump from the social media platform on Friday, after citing the risk that he would incite further violence. His official account had 88.6 million followers. Shortly afterward, Limbaugh deactivated his account. The leading conservative talk radio host had been a strong supporter of Trump and even mimicked the President's style of username -- @RealRLimbaugh similar to Trump's @realDonaldTrump. Now when you search for him on the social networking site, a page shows up with the message, "This account doesn't exist".
Limbaugh quitting Twitter could also have to do with the suspension of several other accounts of Trump supporters. After taking down Donald Trump's account, Twitter also suspended the accounts of former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and former General Mike Flynn. "The accounts have been suspended in line with our policy on Coordinated Harmful Activity," a Twitter spokesperson said in a statement. "We've been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm, and given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behavior in the coming days, we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content."
According to a report in the New York Post, several prominent Trump supporters have moved to Parler as an alternative, but apparently, that conservative social media platform was also sanctioned by app stores on Friday.
After his account was suspended, Trump went on a rant from the US Government official @POTUS account. In now-deleted tweets, he claimed that "Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me - and YOU, the 75,000,000 great patriots who voted for me."
Teasing that he will have "a big announcement soon", Trump criticized the social networking site in his tweets adding that it curbs free speech. As he concluded this with a "Stay tuned", it begs the question if he is building his own platform.
His statement said, "Twitter may be a private company, but without the government's gift of Section 230 they would not exist for long. I predicted this would happen. We have been negotiating with various other sites, and we will have a big announcement soon, while we also look at the possibilities of building our own platform in the near future. We will not be SILENCED! Twitter is not about FREE SPEECH. They are all about promoting a Radical Left platform where some of the most vicious people in the world are allowed to speak freely... STAY TUNED!"
The president's @realDonaldTrump account page now states, "Account suspended. Twitter suspends accounts which violate the Twitter Rules."
In a tweet on Friday evening, Twitter Safety wrote, "After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence."
In its blog post, Twitter said that Trump on Friday tweeted, "The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!" Twitter stated that an "uptick in the global conversation" on Trump supporters storming the Capitol means that "these two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks."