Twitter has added a number of restrictions on a video posted by President Donald Trump that called for peace and urged protesters who amassed at the U.S. Capitol to go home.
"This claim of election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence," the social media platform told its users who tried to engage with the post.
But users are still able to "quote tweet"—or share the video by adding text to their post—according to the platform's restriction.
In his video on Wednesday, Trump responded to demonstrations over election results that spilled into the Capitol building as Congress convened to formally count the Electoral College votes. The appearance of the protesters forced both houses of Congress, who were debating on whether to certify states’ electoral results, to halt their sessions.
Several other separate Trump posts that calling for peaceful behavior did not attract policing from the social media giant.
The protesters who breached the Capitol building were also condemned by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and top leaders in Congress.
Biden, in a televised address at around 4 p.m., said Trump should go on television “now” to address the protesters and tell them to go home. The former vice president characterized the protests as an “insurrection” that was “bordering on sedition.”
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called the described sudden violence as "un-American."
Capitol Police told lawmakers in the House chamber to take gas masks from beneath their seats and prepare to put them on. Officers at the front door of the House chamber had their guns drawn as someone attempted to enter the chamber.
Officers ordered people in the chamber to drop to the floor for their safety.
Shots were reportedly fired inside the U.S. Capitol. The Associated Press, citing an anonymous source, reported that one person was shot and has been taken to a hospital in an unknown condition.The certification joint session in Congress is expected to extend for several hours as some Republican lawmakers are objecting to electoral college votes in several disputed states over concerns of election irregularities and allegations of voter fraud.
Twitter has been frequently criticized for its unbalance policing of its users posts, in particular Trump's post. Trump and his administration have repeatedly underscored the risks of the alleged censorship of user content on social media platforms, claiming that many Big Tech companies are engaging in conduct that limits conservative viewpoints and stifles free speech.
