REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
- Twitter shares slumped as much as 10% in premarket trading on Monday.
- The stock-price drop followed the social-media group’s permanent suspension of President Trump’s account.
- “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said.
- Trump has generated enormous publicity for the platform with his controversial and incendiary tweets over the past six years, and boasted around 88 million followers before the ban.
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Twitter stock fell as much as 10% in premarket trading on Monday after the social-media company permanently banned President Trump’s account on Friday evening.
Twitter’s bosses suspended Trump’s account – which had about 88 million followers – after the world leader’s fanning of conspiracies about voter fraud and election theft spurred thousands of his supporters to lay siege to the Capitol last week.
“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said.
The ban followed rival Facebook’s suspension of Trump for at least the remaining two weeks of his presidency. CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the decision in a Facebook post on Thursday, arguing Trump appeared intent on using his account to undermine a peaceful transition of power and risked sparking more violence.
Twitter stock likely fell because investors are worried the Trump ban will erode interest in the platform, and lead to boycotts among those who see the decision as politically motivated and a way to silence a major conservative voice.
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