Trump Twitter Is Back, He Admits Biden's Victory

Ilustrasi - Donald Trump (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Twitter has lifted its ban on President Donald Trump, and his latest tweets are very different from appearing for months. While he doesn't say he lost, his latest video feels like a concession speech.

"Now that Congress has passed the results, the new government will be inaugurated on January 20," Trump said on Twitter, @realDonaldTrump.

"My focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly, and seamless power transition." Trump issued a similar statement about "an orderly transition" this morning via a replacement account - the account of the White House social media director Dan Scavino.

pic.twitter.com/csX07ZVWGe

- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2021

Reporting from The Verge, Friday, January 8, Trump's own account was locked down on Wednesday, January 6, after a mob of supporters broke into the US Capitol. Twitter will lift this ban until Trump deletes a few tweets, and waits 12 hours later. A Twitter spokesperson confirmed Thursday morning that the tweet in question had been deleted.

Trump returns to Twitter in a weaker position than before. The company says she now risks a permanent ban if she continues to violate Twitter's rules regarding misinformation and incitement to violence.

Once Trump leaves the White House on January 20, he will also lose the special "public interest" protections applied to his account while he was in office, which could make it easier for the company to enforce its rules over Trump's tweets that cross lines.

Twitter banned Trump on Wednesday, January 6 over a series of tweets spreading lies about the election results and a video the company said posed a "risk of violence."

In the video, Trump reiterates his false claim that the election was rigged, and praises the masses who entered the US Capitol, telling them it is time to "go home."

Facebook and YouTube removed the same video from Trump. Facebook later banned Trump because he used the platform to "incite violent uprising against a democratically elected government," saying the risk was "too great" to let it remain. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the ban would remain in effect until at least Inauguration Day.

Trump's new video still includes misinformation, in particular the lie that he "immediately" deployed the National Guard to the Capitol. However, Twitter said that they would not put a label on the tweet because of that, according to Ryan Mac of BuzzFeed News.