Facebook blocks Trump for remainder of term while Twitter sets temporary ban

2:49 p.m. EST: Twitch, the livestreaming platform, disabled President Trump’s account on Thursday for allegedly violating their terms of service.

11:45 a.m EST: E-commerce platform Shopify has also removed online stores and sites affiliated with President Trump after Wednesday’s violence.

Yesterday America went through surreal times when a large group of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol after the President posted numerous social media posts on Twitter and Facebook inciting action from those supporters.

Facebook has just blocked President Donald Trump from posting on its platform for the remainder of his term as President of the United States. Twitter, as of now, still has its 12-hour temporary action of blocking Trump from posting on its platform with a warning that the company may permanently disable his account.

The announcements. Here is Twitter’s post about the temporary ban and warning of future action:

Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump^[1] account.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 7, 2021^[2]

Facebook initially put a 24 hour ban in for Trump but then minutes ago decided to block Trump through his term. Here is the statement^[3] from Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook.

We believe the risks of allowing President Trump to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great, so we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks. pic.twitter.com/JkyGOTYB1Z^[4]

— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) January 7, 2021^[5]

We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time.

— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) January 7, 2021^[6]

Advertisers pausing accounts. Some advertisers are reportedly pausing their advertising campaigns with Facebook and Twitter during these times. Jonathan Kagan, VP of Search, Cogniscient Media|9Rooftops, told us, “We advised our clients that there was so much coverage of the situation, running into a brand safety scenario, or coming off as tone deaf/insensitive to the situation in DC would be inevitable. To avoid possible brand association, we recommend they temporarily cease paid social ads.”

Lisa Barone from Overit said that most brands should pause their campaigns. She wrote on Twitter:

Most brands should pause.

People are suffering. They’re scared. If you can’t be helpful or useful in a situation, say nothing. That’s true here, IMO.

Show a bit of empathy and awareness and let that 5 Things blog post sit for a couple days.

— Lisa Barone (@LisaBarone) January 7, 2021^[7]

While another digital marketer named Joe Youngblood said they did the opposite and promoted positive non-political content on the networks.

We did the opposite and promoted positive non-political content across various brands.

— Joe Youngblood (@YoungbloodJoe) January 7, 2021^[8]

Why we care. When advertising on these social networks, it is important to ensure your brand does not get tied up in the negative association with current events. We have seen the short-term impact current events can have on brands. Be careful and stay current on the news and what is trending on social media to protect your brands.

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