Twitter blocks users from liking Trump video message as calls grow for his account to be removed

Twitter blocks users from interacting with tweet because of ‘risk of violence’

Twitter has blocked users from liking, retweeting or otherwise sharing one of President Donald Trump’s most recent tweets. It’s still possible to retweet with comment. 

Mr Trump posted a video in which he called on the rioters storming the US Capitol to “go home," but he yet again baselessly claimed that the election he lost in November was fraudulent. 

Less than half an hour after posting, the video had 7.7 million views. 

Capitol riots - live: Woman shot after pro-Trump rioters ‘deployed chemicals’ to storm Congress building

The like, retweet and share buttons have been blocked. If you click them, a message appears. 

(Twitter)

Underneath the video, Twitter has attached the message “This claim of election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence.”

Clicking on the message brings you to a page with the headline “There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 US presidential election, government officials and election experts confirm”.

The Twitter Safety team tweeted out a message about the riot, saying they are “working proactively to protect the health of the public conversation”. 

Calls for Trump’s Twitter account to be removed came as Trump-supporting rioters stormed the US Capitol. 

Mr Trump encouraged people to be peaceful but he also previously urged people to come to DC to object to the certification of the election results. 

Twitter has been lenient with world leaders violating their rules, including Mr Trump, and has allowed his account to stay active throughout a presidency during which calls for his account’s removal has come at multiple points. 

During the impeachment hearings in 2019, Democrats called on Twitter to remove Mr Trump’s account after he tweeted out messages that they interpreted as threatening. 

Also in 2019, Twitter said that it would continue to be lenient to world leaders who appeared to violate their policy against violent speech because they believed it to be in the public interest, The New York Times reported.