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Twitter, Facebook freeze Trump accounts as tech giants respond to storming of US capitol

Twitter, Facebook freeze Trump accounts as tech giants respond to storming of US capitol

By Reuters

US President Donald Trump participates in a phone call with Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, on October 4, 2020, in his conference room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Not shown in the photo also in the room on the call is Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Photo: Tia Dufour/The White House/Handout via Reuters

Twitter and Facebook Inc on Wednesday temporarily locked the accounts of US President Donald Trump, as tech giants scrambled to crack down on his baseless claims about the US presidential elections amid riots at the US Capitol. Twitter hid and required the removal of three of Trump's tweets 'as a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, DC,' after pro-Trump protesters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to force Congress to block the appointment of President-elect Joe Biden. Facebook later tweeted it would block Trump's page from posting for 24 hours due to two policy violations. Twitter locked Trump's account for 12 hours and said that if the tweets are not removed, the account would remain locked, meaning the president would be unable to tweet from @realDonaldTrump.