Twitter has permanently banned the U.S president Donald Trump on Friday, stepping up to limit Trump’s ability to interact with his followers. This decision was made considering his encouragement for the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol. Twitter gave Trump many second chances over the years as president, allowing him to stay on the platform due to the company’s beliefs that speech by world leaders is in the public interest, even if it breaks the rules.

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Twitter initially announced Trump’s ban in a set of tweets from its @TwitterSafety account and also linked to a blog post stating its thinking. Twitter gave Trump one last chance after suspending and then reinstating his account for the allegations made on Wednesday. Twitter on the following day said a pair of tweets made pushed him over the line. Twitter states tweets mentioned below were not analyzed on a standalone basis, but in the context of his recent behavior and events.

Statement By Twitter

… We have determined that these Tweets are in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy and the user @realDonaldTrump should be immediately permanently suspended from the service

Twitter’s Explanation Of Its Reasoning

• “President Trump’s statement that he will not be attending the Inauguration is being received by a number of his supporters as further confirmation that the election was not legitimate and is seen as him disavowing his previous claim made via two Tweets (1, 2) by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Dan Scavino, that there would be an ‘orderly transition’ on January 20th.
• “The second Tweet may also serve as encouragement to those potentially considering violent acts that the Inauguration would be a ‘safe’ target, as he will not be attending.
• “The use of the words ‘American Patriots’ to describe some of his supporters is also being interpreted as support for those committing violent acts at the US Capitol.
• “The mention of his supporters having a ‘GIANT VOICE long into the future’ and that ‘They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!’ is being interpreted as further indication that President Trump does not plan to facilitate an ‘orderly transition’ and instead that he plans to continue to support, empower, and shield those who believe he won the election.
• “Plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter, including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021.”

These decisions as much they are stated policies involve a lot of subjective analysis and interpretation. Explanation by Twitter here gives out a glimpse into how social media networks decide what stays and what goes.