Trump gets Twitter account back with threat he could be permanently banned

(AFP via Getty Images)

Donald Trump’s ban on using Twitter has been expired – but he has been warned that future breaches of the site’s rules will lead his account to suspended entirely.

As rioters broke into the US Capitol Building, and Mr Trump posted a number of tweets that appeared to praise those involved, Twitter announced that it would be taking unprecedented action against the president’s account.

It announced at 7.02pm local that it would be banning him for 12 hours, along with a range of other measures.

That 12 hour ban has now expired, meaning Mr Trump will presumably be able to post again.

The account is still yet to post, meaning that the two most visible entries on its feed are two labels indicating that tweets had been removed. Twitter had required Mr Trump to remove those posts – in which he praised rioters but asked them to go home – under the threat of further suspensions if they stayed live.

Any new posts will be subject to more restrictions than before, with Twitter warning that further violations will lead to an outright ban.

“Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account,” the company said when it first announced the ban.

A number of recent posts – including those in which Mr Trump appeared to endorse the violence, and others in which he falsely claimed to have won the election – would have violated those policies, meaning that if they were posted now the president’s account would be removed.

Previously, the president’s Twitter account had been protected because he is an elected official and his posts were deemed newsworthy. As such, a number of posts that would normally have been removed and led to censure of the account stayed online.

Twitter said that it had taken the new steps “as a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, DC”.

The company had already indicated that Mr Trump would lose those protections when he left office.