Twitter shuts down Trump's account, citing risk of violence after Capitol Hill melee

Twitter, the social media platform that helped fuel President Trump's rise to power and gave him a largely unfiltered medium for reaching tens of millions of followers, has shut down his account, citing the risk of further violence after a mob of his supporters forced their way into the U.S. Capitol.

The San Francisco-based social media giant's move follows Facebook's decision to block access to Trump's account at least through the end of his presidency, now 12 days away. While both companies and their rivals had long faced criticism that some of the president's posts violated their content policies, their leaders had asserted that voters needed to know the views of government officials.

"Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly," Twitter said in an unsigned blog post explaining its decision. "It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open."

But after intensive review of recent posts from the president's account and how they are being "received and interpreted on and off Twitter," the company said, "we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence."