Snapchat Permanently Bans Trump

A lot has so far happened since last week’s US Capitol violence. Public enemy number 1 US President Donald Trump has become the first president in US history to be impeached twice, after being charged with “incitement of insurrection” over last week’s deadly storming of Congress. Now Snapchat permanently bans Trump’s account, Snap announced on Wednesday. Snap had indefinitely suspended Trump’s account last week after he incited a pro-Trump mob to attack the US Capitol, and it has now made the decision to make that suspension permanent.

Though Trump’s social media preferences as a user are clear, Snapchat gave the Trump campaign a particularly effective platform to target young users who are active on the service. A permanent ban will undoubtedly complicate his future business and political ambitions as he finds himself removed from most mainstream social platforms.

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“Last week we announced an indefinite suspension of President Trump’s Snapchat account, and have been assessing what long term action is in the best interest of our Snapchat community,” a Snapchat spokesperson said. “In the interest of public safety, and based on his attempts to spread misinformation, hate speech, and incite violence, which are clear violations of our guidelines, we have made the decision to permanently terminate his account.”

Social media platforms have been scrambling to eliminate or limit the reach of inflammatory content and accounts in the wake of the US Capitol riots and ahead of next week’s inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, with a special focus on what to do about accounts linked to the President.

Snapchat permanently bans Trumps, follows last week events. Last week, Facebook said, it would ban Trump’s account from posting for at least the remainder of his term in office and perhaps “indefinitely.” Twitter, Trump’s preferred online megaphone, initially locked his account for inciting what became a violent insurrection at the US Capitol. He would tweet twice more before Twitter determined it had finally had enough and permanently suspended his account. YouTube said Tuesday that it is suspending Trump’s channel for at least one week, and potentially longer, after his channel earned a strike under the platform’s policies.