On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Twitter account was suspended shortly after twitter announced his absence on the platform might reduce “further incitement of violence.”

Twitter said in a blog post that Mr. Trump’s personal @realDonaldTrump account, which has more than 88 million followers, would be shut down immediately. 

The company said two tweets that Trump had posted on Friday — one calling his supporters “patriots” and another saying he would not go to the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 — violated its rules against glorifying violence.

The account went further saying the tweets are highly likely to inspire people to replicate the criminal acts that took place in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Within minutes, Trump’s account on Twitter was replaced with a label: “Account suspended.” 

In efforts to circumvent the ban, Trump used the @POTUS Twitter account, which is used for current presidents, to speak against Twitter’s decision. The company forbids the use of any secondary accounts; therefore, Trump’s posts were immediately removed.

“Twitter is not about FREE SPEECH,” Trump tweeted, according to ABC News. “They are all about promoting a Radical Left platform where some of the most vicious people in the world are allowed to speak freely.”

Although many Republicans stand infuriated by Twitter’s decision, the Twitter team and others stand by their decision. 

In an interview with the New York Times Shannon McGregor, a senior researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, put the ban in terms of the president’s access to the public.  “Twitter’s permanent suspension of Trump’s Twitter account is long overdue,” said McGregor.  “This is the key de-platforming for Trump. The inability to tweet cuts off his direct access to the press — and, by extension, the public.”

The cries of the ban being an abuse of power came soon after the announcement. Fox News’ Patrice Lee Onwuka is a senior policy fellow at the conservative non-profit Independent Women’s Forum, took issue with the ban in an opinion piece writing, “They are treating president Trump as they do terrorists, mass murders, human traffickers, and child molesters.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is raising concerns about social media platforms banning users, in the aftermath of Twitter’s decision to permanently suspend President Trump.

While the ACLU has disagreed with Trump in the past, they are concerned about online freedom due to the ramifications made this past Friday.

“We understand the desire to permanently suspend him now, but it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield the unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become indispensable for the speech of billions — especially when political realities make those decisions easier,” said Kate Ruane, ACLU senior legislative counsel, in a statement. 

“President Trump can turn to his press team or Fox News to communicate with the public, but others — like the many Black, Brown, and LGBTQ activists who have been censored by social media companies — will not have that luxury,” the ACLU said.