That didn’t take long.
On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump, banned from Twitter shortly after the Capitol riot, revealed his new website, “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump.” An account called @DJTDesk “ emerged on the social media site shortly after,” the New York Post reported.
“By Wednesday evening, though, Twitter had suspended the account,” the paper said.
Team Trump said the new website is meant to serve as “a place to speak freely and safely,” but it would also give the former president a platform after losing both Twitter and Facebook.
Twitter defended the suspension, with a spokesperson telling the Post, “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.”
Last week, Twitter announced it has no plans to allow Trump to use its site. On Wednesday, Facebook’s oversight board announced that Trump will remain suspended indefinitely. The board upheld Trump’s ban from Facebook and Instagram, but added that it was “not appropriate” for Facebook to impose the “indeterminate and standard less penalty of indefinite suspension.”
“The Board has upheld Facebook’s decision on January 7, 2021, to restrict then-President Donald Trump’s access to posting content on his Facebook page and Instagram account,” the board announced Wednesday. But the board gave Facebook six months to review the “arbitrary” ban, saying in a Twitter post that the company “violated its own rules.”
Meanwhile, Twitter CFO Ned Segal said there have been “no changes” regarding Trump’s status of being permanently suspended. “Well, there has been no changes to anything we have shared in the past around the former president’s account,” Segal said.
“When you step back and think about our policies, we want to work hard to be consistent, to be transparent so people know exactly what to expect from us,” Segal added. “We don’t have an oversight board like that. Our team is accountable for the decisions that we make.”
The former Republican president was suspended from both platforms after the Capitol riot, after alleged Trump supporters breached the building and clashed with Capitol Police. Trump has since found a way around the two sites, sending out statements on issues that draw immediate coverage.
The former president on Wednesday raged against the decision by the two social media giants, as well as Google.
“What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country,” Trump said in a statement. “Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before. The People of our Country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process.”
“Facebook cannot make up the rules as it goes, and anyone concerned about its power should be concerned about allowing this,” the board said in a statement. “Having clear rules that apply to all users and Facebook is essential for ensuring the company treats users fairly.”