Twitter was on Monday preparing pro-Trump protesters in front of San Francisco headquarters after banning the platform’s president.
The tech giant permanently suspended Trump on Friday and cited a “risk of further incitement to violence” following the storm of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters. That caused shares to fall 10% shortly after the bell opened on Monday.
Police told The San Francisco Chronicle that they are aware of a possible protest and have been in contact with the social media giant. A police car was parked outside the building Sunday and barriers were lifted, NBC reports.
There have been no official rallies planned, but the online conversation suggests Trump fans may decide to rally to protest the decision.
A message on Saturday suggested that attendees should wear “big” zippers to “citizens who arrest violent agitators.” Another is said to have told protesters to cover their faces with masks and hats.
Twitter employees have not been in the office since March last year at the start of the coronavirus outbreak. According to reports, his CEO, Jack Dorsey, made the extraordinary call to permanently suspend Trump’s account while on vacation in French Polynesia.
The aftermath of Trump’s permanent ban on Twitter continued over the weekend as his eldest son attacked social media and loyalists fled alternatives such as Gab and Parler.
‘The world laughs at America and Mao, Lenin and Stalin smile. Is great technology capable of censoring the president? Freedom of speech is dead and is controlled by left-wing gentlemen, “Don Trump Jr. said in a tweet on Saturday, urging fans to join his mailing list,” In case it’s the Next “.
On Monday he retweeted a post that said, “The Internet was much safer before @Twitter, @Apple, @Google, and @Facebook started protecting us,” and wrote, “This time 1000.”
On Friday, Twitter also permanently banned two Trump loyalists – former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and attorney Sidney Powell – as part of a broader purge of accounts that promotes QAnon’s conspiracy theory.
Twitter was preparing pro-Trump protesters in front of San Francisco headquarters in the photo on Monday after banning the platform’s president
Officers were outside the building Sunday and barriers were lifted, NBC reports
San Francisco official Adam Lobsinger said in a statement: ‘SFPD has been in touch with Twitter representatives. We will have sufficient resources to respond to any demonstration and calls to the service of the whole city.
“The San Francisco Police Department is committed to facilitating the public’s right to expressions of freedom of expression in the First Amendment. We call on everyone exercising their First Amendment rights to be considered, respectful, and safe. of others. ”
John Dennis, president of the San Francisco Republican Party, said: “When the company has an unequal application of the terms of service, you will get a response.
‘Will happen. Therefore, I do not know the details of this protest, but I suspect that you will see many of them ”.
Twitter saw shares fall 10 percent in early trading on Monday
Twitter said in a statement: ‘While we respect the right of people to express their views, we have been transparent about the factors that led to our decision last week.
“We have nothing to add, but we wanted to confirm that we continue to have mandatory guidance from home for Twitter employees.”
Facebook on Thursday suspended Trump’s account until Jan. 20, the day President-elect Joe Biden took office, and possibly indefinitely.
Frustrations fueling right-wing social media Parler also disappeared from the network and disappeared from Apple and Google app stores on Monday after tech giants severed ties with the platform.
Parler went offline shortly after 3 a.m. EST after Amazon launched its web hosting service platform, effectively shutting it down until it could find a new hosting partner.
Hailed by Trump supporters as a conservative alternative to Twitter, the site is seen as a magnet for the far right and was accused by Apple, Google and Amazon of continuing to allow messages inciting violence after the riot. Wednesday.
Parler, which some of the riot police had used to help plan the uprising, was the most downloaded app in the Apple store on Friday before Apple and Google cut off access to their app stores.
CEO John Matze warned in his latest message before the 3 a.m. deadline that “we will probably go down more than expected,” as tech companies distance themselves from the “freedom of expression.” .
On Friday, Twitter also permanently banned two Trump loyalists – former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and attorney Sidney Powell – as part of a broader purge of accounts that promotes QAnon’s conspiracy theory. Twitter said it will take action on behavior that could cause offline damage
Trump, who entered the White House, was increasingly isolated after a crowd revolted at the Capitol in support of his false allegations of election fraud.
Pro-Trump protesters entered the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday
Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, who had an account at Parler, became enraged at what he said was “political censorship” after Apple and Google withdrew the app.
“Spread the word so your fellow Americans know,” he urged his three million followers on the site.
Right-wing expert Ben Shapiro warned on Twitter that “the tech British are making a horrible and dangerous time significantly more horrible and dangerous.”
“No consistent rules apply. There is reactionary degradation on behalf of one side,” he said.
“Everyone on the right is rightly concerned that these same companies are five minutes away from simply removing the Conservatives’ ability to host content anywhere.”
The crackdown on social media has rekindled the debate over whether tech giants should be treated as “editors” with the same responsibility as news providers.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has tweeted about the image of an analytical tool that shows the top elected Democrats gaining tens of thousands of followers on Twitter, while key Republicans lose them at the same rate.
“This is how an echo chamber is created …” Pompey wrote.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday that the House will proceed with legislation to oust Trump while pushing the vice president and cabinet to invoke constitutional authority to force him.
Hailed by supporters of Donald Trump as a conservative alternative to Twitter, Parler is seen as a magnet for the far right and was accused by Apple, Google and Amazon of continuing to allow messages inciting violence after the attack. Wednesday at the Capitol.
Shortly after 3 a.m. (EST), Parler disappeared from the network with an error message that said “we can’t connect to the server” after Amazon unplugged
In his last message before the three-morning deadline, Matze said that “most people with enough servers to accommodate us have closed their doors.”
Trump, who entered the White House, was increasingly isolated after a crowd revolted at the Capitol in support of his false allegations of election fraud.
After his personal account was banned on Friday, Trump accessed the @POTUS account and raised the idea that he could build his own “platform.”
A crowd of Trump supporters dominated police, broke into security lines and windows, and crossed the Capitol on Tuesday, forcing lawmakers to disperse as they finalized Biden’s victory over Trump in the Electoral College.
Banning Trump, Twitter said in a statement: “In the context of this week’s horrific events, we made it clear on Wednesday that other violations of Twitter rules could result in this same process of action.
“Our public interest framework exists to allow the public to listen directly to elected officials and world leaders. It is based on a principle that people have a right to be held accountable to power in the open.
“However, we made it clear that for years these accounts are not above our rules and cannot use Twitter to incite violence, among other things.”