Snapchat Permanently Suspends Trump From Its Platform

By Neil P. First Posted: Jan 15, 2021 05:29 AM EST

Snapchat, one of the country's leading social media platforms, recently announced that it has permanently banned President Donald Trump.

(Photo : Pexels/Thought Catalog)

Snapchat Permanently Banned Trump from its Platform

Just one week after Snapchat indefinitely suspends Trump's account, the social media platform is now permanently banning the president.

The suspension came a week after Trump supporters riot at the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop President-elect Joe Biden's certification. Five people died amid the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

In an official statement released through USA Today, Snapchat said: "In the interest of public safety, and based on his attempts to spread misinformation, hate speech, and incite violence, which are clear violations of our guidelines, we have made the decision to permanently terminate his account."

Snapchat added that it had been assessing the company's long-term action for the community's best interest since the indefinite suspension.

Snapchat is one of the social media platforms that Trump used to reach millions of Americans directly. It lets users use photos, videos, and messages that appear momentarily before being made inaccessible.

However, the company said that it had stopped promoting Trump's account on its Discover platform in June after he continued to post what Snapchat described as dangerous rhetoric inciting violence and hate, CBS News reported. This mean that the president's account has been visible only to users who chose to subscribe or search for him.

Trump's Account Continues to Violate Snapchat's Guidelines

The Capitol's riot is not the only reason why Snapchat decided to ban Trump's account permanently. Snapchat said he has continued to violate the company's guidelines dozens of times, according to the CBS report.

However, the company did not mention what other guidelines and policies did Trump violated in the past few months. According to its Third Quarter Data, Snapchat has roughly 250 million daily users. Thus, being banned on its platform could have a big impact on Trump.

Trump's campaign committee has yet to respond or comment over Snapchat's decision to permanently ban his account.

Other Social Media that Ban or Suspend Trump

Snapchat was the latest social media platform that permanently banned Trump. There were others that already permanently banned or temporarily suspended him. Trump now lost access to the country's most prominent social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already said that the company would ban Trump until the end of his term, but a person with knowledge about this matter said this might be indefinite. The restriction also includes access to Instagram, which is also owned by Facebook.

Twitter also permanently banned Trump's account, including the @POTUS. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that banning Trump's account was the right decision. The @realdonaldtrump Twitter account has nearly 90 million followers before it was suspended.

Recently, YouTube also decided to suspend Trump's account. YouTube is the world's biggest online video streaming.

YouTube said that Trump's channel was suspended after one of his recent videos violated its policy for inciting violence, leading to its automatic suspension that will last for seven days. A channel can be permanently banned from YouTube after three strikes.