SAN FRANCISCO: Twitter confirmed that it pulled the plug on several accounts trying to bypass its ban on former president Donald Trump by promoting his blog posts.
The ex-president launched a page on his website earlier this week promising comment “straight from the desk of Donald J Trump.”
The page was made public just before Facebook’s independent oversight board on Wednesday upheld the platform’s ban on Trump.
Twitter accounts with names playing on Trump themes and seeking to amplify the Trump website posts were taken offline, according to the platform.
“As stated in our ban evasion policy, we’ll take enforcement action on accounts whose apparent intent is to replace or promote content affiliated with a suspended account,” a Twitter spokesperson said.
Twitter said it permanently suspended Trump’s account after the deadly January 6 Capitol riot because there was a risk he would further incite violence, following months of tweets disputing Joe Biden’s presidential election victory.
False and misleading claims about American politics have plummeted, a trend for which Twitter and Facebook are keen to take credit.
With Trump muted, Biden less engaged on social media, and no election cycle underway, Americans are now living in a different media ecosystem. Social media was long Trump’s weapon of choice, letting him fire off comments without having to explain or back claims.
