Twitter Suspends @DJTDesk Account Created To Tweet Trump’s Statements

Trump’s team tried to get his messaging back on the microblogging website but were unsuccessful, after Twitter suspended an account created to share posts from a website recently launched by former President Donald Trump, claiming the new handle is an attempt to bypass the suspension of his personal account, in the latest move by a major social media company limiting Trump’s ability to spread his message.

The new site, “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” went live Tuesday, as did its accompanying Twitter handle @DJTDesk. By late Wednesday night, the account had been suspended. A Twitter spokesperson in a statement said: “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.”

But Trump’s team denies ownership of the account, with a spokesperson from his office saying, “we did not create the account that was shut down.”

Two days after the deadly chaos at the Capitol on January 6, which claimed the lives of five people, including a D.C. police officer, Twitter announced the permanent suspension of Trump’s personal account “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” The company explained that they determined that Trump had violated their Glorification of Violence Policy.

YouTube and Facebook also banned the president in the immediate aftermath of the riots. On Wednesday, Facebook’s oversight board upheld the company’s decision to ban Trump. Yet, it ruled it was not “appropriate” to impose an indefinite ban, stating Facebook has six months to either restore the account or make his suspension permanent. Trump quickly lashed out.

“What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country,” he said in a statement. The former president also declared social media companies should “pay a political price” for attempting to “destroy and decimate our Electoral Process.” In a video announcing his new site Tuesday, Trump said his new platform would serve as “a place to speak freely and safely.”