Twitter blocks Trump, threatens permanent ban over inciting violence

US President Donald Trump is seen on TV from a video message released on Twitter addressing rioter at the US Capitol, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2020. Trump told his supporters on Wednesday to “go home” after they stormed the US Capitol following a rally during which he repeated his spurious claims of election fraud. Mandel Ngan / AFP

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) — Twitter on Wednesday threatened to permanently ban US President Donald Trump from the platform for flouting its civic integrity rules, ordering him to remove three rule-breaking tweets.

The messaging platform locked Trump for 12 hours and said his account will remain locked if the offending messaging are not taken down, according to the Twitter safety team.

“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.”