US President Donald Trump was on Wednesday
barred from posting on social media platforms Twitter, Facebook and Instagram over
messages that were deemed to be promoting violence as a large number of his supporters
stormed the US Capitol building.

The unprecedented move came after Trump
shared a series of false claims about his electoral defeat to Joe Biden, claiming
the election was stolen from him, PTI reported.

Also Read | World leaders condemn violence at US Capitol

Facebook said it will be blocking Trump’s account for 24 hours due to violation of two policies. 

“This is an emergency situation and we are
taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s
video. We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather
than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence,” Facebook’s vice president
integrity Guy Rosen said.

Earlier, Twitter threatened to permanently
ban Trump from the platform for flouting its civic integrity rules, ordering
him to remove three rule-breaking tweets.

The social media platform locked
Trump for 12 hours and said his account will remain locked if the policy violations do not stop, according to the Twitter safety team.

Also Read | Nancy Pelosi says Joe Biden win certification to resume ‘tonight’ once Capitol secure

“As a result of the unprecedented and
ongoing violent situation in Washington, DC, we have required the removal of
three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and
severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy,” Twitter said in a post.

“If the Tweets are not removed, the
account will remain locked.”

Trump has extensively used Twitter to claim
fraud in the presidential elections since his defeat to Joe Biden. Twitter has
been long criticised of inaction against the US President. This would be the
first time that a US President has been blocked by a social media platform.

One of the tweets removed by Twitter included
a video of Trump repeating baseless claims about election fraud and also
encouraging his supporters to disperse after the outbreak of the violence at
the Capitol.

Also Read | Woman shot in the violent outbreak at US Capitol died: Police

Facebook and Youtube have removed the video.

“I know your pain. I know you’re hurt. We
had an election that was stolen from us. It was a landslide election, and
everyone knows it–especially the other side. But you have to go home now. We
have to have peace. We have to have law and order,” Trump said.

“This was a fraudulent election but we
can’t play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace, so go home.
We love you. You’re very special. You’ve seen 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,” he added.

Meanwhile, Facebook-owned photo sharing
platform Instagram also announced similar sanctions against Trump. “We are
locking President Trump’s Instagram account for 24 hours as well,” Adam
Mosseri, Head of Instagram, tweeted.