Following the January 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of President Donald J. Trump, social media sites, including Twitter and Facebook, were urged to limit hate speech and the glorification of violence on their platforms.
January 6, 2021: “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously and cruelly taken away from great patriots who have been treated badly and unfairly for so long,” Trump tweeted, with an accompanying message on Facebook. Other posts include a video telling his supporters to “go home now,” while also offering encouragement such as “I know how you feel.” Twitter and Facebook both eventually delete some of the posts, saying the president will be suspended at least until the next day.
January 7, 2021: Facebook will block Mr Trump until the end of his term, or until January 20. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the risks of Mr Trump using the service were too great. Mr Trump posts a video on Twitter saying he will support a peaceful transfer of power.
January 8, 2021: Twitter is permanently banning Mr Trump from his service “due to the risk of further incitement to violence”, effectively cutting him off from his favorite megaphone.
January 10, 2021: Stripped of a platform, Mr Trump faces the challenge of finding a new way to grab attention.
June 4, 2021: Facebook is updating its stance on Mr Trump’s account suspension, saying it would take at least two years. Facebook also says it will end a policy of treating posts by politicians differently from those of other users.
June 7, 2021: Times reporters analyze hundreds of online communications and posts and find that Mr Trump’s most ardent supporters continued to spread his message after the ban — doing the work he couldn’t do himself.
February 18, 2022: Truth Social, Mr Trump’s alternative to Twitter, has had to delay its rollout, even as the field of sites presenting themselves as freer platforms becomes more crowded.
April 27, 2022: Truth Social is inundated with fake accounts and features that don’t work, writes our tech reviewer.
May 6, 2022: A federal judge in San Francisco, who said he was not convinced that Twitter violated Mr. Trump’s free speech, is dismissing Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against the company.
May 10, 2022: Elon Musk, who is in the process of buying Twitter, says he would roll back Mr Trump’s “permanent ban” and let him back on the social network if the deal goes through.
May 13, 2022: Elon Musk said in a tweet that his $44 billion bid to buy Twitter was “temporarily on hold” until he could get more details to confirm that spam and fake accounts represent less than 5 percent of the social network’s total number of users.
