Citing the risk of further incitement of violence following the insurrection at the US Capitol on Wednesday, social media platform Twitter permanently banned US President Donald Trump's account @realDonaldTrump.

Twitter provided a detailed explanation as to why the company decided to take the extreme step. Claiming that Trump's latest tweets amounted to glorification of violence despite the previous warnings he received, Twitter said, "After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.

"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action. Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open. However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules entirely and cannot use Twitter to incite violence, among other things. We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement."

Hours after the permanent ban, Trump mentioned in a statement, "I predicted this would happen. We have been negotiating with various other sites, and will have a big announcement soon, while we also look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future. We will not be SILENCED!"

On January 6, a group of pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol in Washington DC in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's election victory. The act of insurrection resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer. As Trump continued to post misleading information on social media platforms inciting further violence, Twitter initially locked the president's account for 12 hours while Facebook and Instagram banned him indefinitely.

In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action. https://t.co/NrANZJcAfo

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021

However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules and cannot use Twitter to incite violence. We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021