As Snapchat Bans Donald Trump, These Are the Platforms That Have Blocked the President

Snapchat became the latest online platform to ban Donald Trump on Wednesday, as websites and apps take the unprecedented step of shutting down, suspending or restricting the president's personal accounts.

While critics of the president spent years calling for such companies to better police his online activity, the last straw for many was the Washington, D.C. riot on January 6, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in a siege that lead to the deaths of five people.

In the week after the violent incident, the enforcement extended beyond Trump, as his allies or websites hosting content linked to the president also found themselves in the crosshairs of a collection of technology giants with the power to silence.

As his first and only term comes to an end, and he grapples with the consequences of a second impeachment, here is a list of every tech platform or social network that decided that Trump's presence was no longer welcome—and their public statements.

Twitter

On January 6, Twitter blocked Trump's account for 12 hours after it removed three tweets, including a video address he posted as the Capitol Building riot was still ongoing in which he asserted the mob was "very special." On January 8, it permanently suspended Trump's account "due to the risk of further incitement of violence."

Facebook/Instagram

Facebook was among the first social networks to remove the president's January 6 video address to his supporters, saying that it "contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence." That day, Trump's pages were locked for 24 hours. However, the platform decided the blocks would be "extended indefinitely" on January 7.

Snapchat

Snapchat said on January 6 that it had locked Trump's account on the website, which left him unable to post. It said on January 13 that the president's Snapchat profile would be permanently terminated on January 20 "in the interest of public safety, and based on his attempts to spread misinformation, hate speech, and incite violence."

YouTube

The Google-owned video giant said on January 7 that any channels posting new videos with false claims in violation of its policies would now receive a strike. On January 13, it said Donald Trump's channel was given a strike as new videos had broken policies and was temporarily prevented from uploading new content for a minimum of 7 days.

TikTok

TikTok said in a statement to TechCrunch on January 7 it would remove videos of Trump's speeches and reduce visibility of any content that's associated with hashtags potentially used by supporters, such as #stormthecapitol. It said posts containing Trump speeches would violate its misinformation policy, but would allow users to counter his claims.

Reddit

Once home to thriving pro-Trump communities, the message board Reddit told Axios on January 8 it had banned the group r/DonaldTrump, citing "repeated policy violations in recent days regarding the violence at the U.S. Capitol." Reddit said its policies prohibit content that promotes hate or encourages, glorifies, incites, or calls for violence against people.

Shopify

Shopify, which previously helped sell Trump merchandise, said on January 7 that it had terminated stores affiliated with the president. A statement said it "does not tolerate actions that incite violence" and found "the actions by President Donald J. Trump violate our Acceptable Use Policy, which prohibits promotion or support of organizations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence to further a cause."

Pinterest

The picture pinboard website told Axois on January 11 that it had been limiting hashtags related to pro-Trump topics since around the time of the November 2020 election. A spokesperson said: "Pinterest isn't a place for threats, promotion of violence or hateful content."

Twitch

Streaming platform Twitch removed the "PogChamp emote"—an image used in chats— after "statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol." It said on January 7: "We want the sentiment and use of Pog to live on [but] we can't in good conscience continue to enable use of the image."

Stripe

Financial services company Stripe told The Wall Street Journal on January 10 that it would no longer process payments for President Trump's campaign website after the Capitol riot. A source told the paper it was for violating policies against encouraging violence.

The list was compiled with the help of a database created and maintained by First Draft News researchers Madelyn Webb and Shaydanay Urbani (via the Reuters Institute).

The widespread enforcement action extends beyond President Trump, however, as tech and social media platforms grapple with misinformation and calls for violence.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a thread on his website on Wednesday that it was "the right decision" to block Trump's account but he stressed that the choice may end being up "destructive to the noble purpose and ideals of the open internet."

He continied in the series of posts: "Having to take these actions fragment the public conversation. They divide us. They limit the potential for clarification, redemption, and learning. And sets a precedent I feel is dangerous: the power an individual or corporation has over a part of the global public conversation."

One of the most notable incidents over the past week was the sudden demise of Parler, a Twitter-like social network favored by conservatives. Trump did not have an account there, however speculation was rising that it could be his go-to destination.

But in recent days, its mobile app was removed from the iOS and Android stores due to failure to moderate the extreme posts from users, and its main website was pulled offline after being suspended by hosting provider Amazon Web Services (AWS).