Greg Sandoval/Business Insider
- Snapchat locked president Donald Trump’s account on Wednesday, during the violent insurrection at the US Capitol.
- A pro-Trump mob broke into and occupied the Capitol building. Four people died as a result of the violence.
- Snapchat had stopped promoting Trump’s account in the app’s Discover section starting in June 2020 due to his comments during anti-police brutality protests.
- Facebook and Twitter suspended Trump’s accounts as well.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Snapchat joined other major tech platforms in suspending President Donald Trump’s social accounts following rampage at the US Capitol Wednesday afternoon.
Pro-Trump rioters broke into the Capitol, shattering windows and stealing property, in an attempt to stop the Congressional process to certify president-elect Joe Biden’s victory. Three people died as a result of medical injuries during the siege, and one woman died from a gunshot wound by a US Capitol police officer.
“We can confirm that earlier on Wednesday we locked President Trump’s Snapchat account,” a Snap spokesperson told Business Insider.
Plans to storm the Capitol building had circulated on Facebook, Twitter, and Parler prior to the siege, Buzzfeed reported. Critics called to ban Trump from Twitter for his role in inciting violence and spreading false claims, and Facebook’s ex-security chief called on the platform to “cut off” the president.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday morning Trump will be locked out of accessing his accounts indefinitely.
"We believe the risk of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. "Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete."
Twitter suspended the president accounts after Trump posted a video praising the rioters and baselessly disputing the election results.
YouTube removed the video, but allows copies of the videos to exist "if uploaded with additional context." The video-streaming site announced on Friday it would issue a strike policy for channels posting false claims about the 2020 election.
Snapchat had stopped promoting Trump's account in the app's Discover section in June, after the president criticized protesters calling for the end of police brutality. Snapchat left Trump's account public and visible to those who search for it or subscribe to it.
"We are not currently promoting the president's content on Snapchat's discover platform," a Snap spokesperson told Business Insider in June. "We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover. Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America."