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Twitter was mulling blocking Trump’s account long before Capitol attack — reporter

Twitter management reportedly consulted with law enforcement agencies regarding moderation of election-related content

NEW YORK, December 10. /TASS/. A number of Twitter managers discussed an option to block accounts of politicians and high-ranking officials all the way back in 2020, meaning the issue of blocking of then-President Donald Trump’s account was discussed months before the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack, says the new part of the investigation, published by independent reported Matt Taibbi, who cites internal correspondence of Twitter employees.

Trump’s account was blocked in January 2021. After Elon Musk purchased the platform, the account was unblocked. According to Taibbi, the main part of internal discussions on blocking of Trump’s account took place a day before and a day after the January 6 events, but the foundation was laid down long before the Capitol riots.

According to the reporters, a number of Twitter managers created a private chat on October 8, 2020, for discussion of matters of deletion or blocking of accounts of people connected to elections, including high-ranking ones.

Twitter management reportedly consulted with law enforcement agencies regarding moderation of election-related content. After Trump’s account was blocked, the managers started considering options to block future US Presidents and White House representatives, potentially including Joe Biden, Taibbi says, concluding that the new US Administration can be blocked only in case of emergency.