Twitter announced Friday that the platform will permanently suspend President Trump's account effective immediately.
Driving the news: It's Twitter's strongest action against the president's account and comes in response to the "risk of further incitement of violence," per the social media company. The move follows Wednesday's siege at the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob as Congress was certifying the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden.
Twitter permanently suspended the accounts of former national security adviser Michael Flynn and President Trump's lawyer Sidney Powell on Friday for breaking the platform's "Coordinated Harmful Activity" policy.
Why it matters: The action comes as part of the platform's crackdown on QAnon-related content. Both Flynn and Powell have promoted the far-right conspiracy theory that purports without evidence that the "deep state" is waging war against President Trump.
Reddit has banned the subreddit group "r/DonaldTrump," a spokesperson confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: While not an official group or page hosted by the president, it's one of the company's largest political communities dedicated to support for President Trump.
SoFi, a San Francisco-based personal finance company, agreed to go public via a reverse merger with a blank-check company called Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V at an $8.65 billion valuation.
Why it matters: This crowns SCH's Chamath Palihapitiya as the king of tech unicorn SPACs, following earlier deals for Virgin Galactic and Opendoor.
So much of Wednesday's assault on the Capitol looked readymade for memes because, for many of today's far-right digital natives, that is the point.
What happened: The outlandishly costumed rioters — among them, shirtless, horned "Q Shaman" Jake Angeli and fur-clad Brooklynite Aaron Mostofsky — had no wish to fade into the crowd.
The breach of the Capitol this week by pro-Trump rioters also put lawmakers' cybersecurity at risk.
Why it matters: Files, emails and other data lifted from lawmakers would have enormous value to hostile foreign powers, cybercriminals and other bad actors.
Big Tech companies took swift action to limit President Trump's online reach following Wednesday's riot at the Capitol. Facebook announced his account would be shut down "indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks" and Twitter promised to ban him if he breaks its rules one more time.
Yes, but: The companies had been preparing for this moment for a while.
Nearly every major tech company has taken some action against President Trump's accounts as of midday Thursday following the chaotic riots at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
The big picture: With just two weeks left in office, Donald Trump has lost access to most of his social media megaphone.
Twitch, the Amazon-owned live video streaming platform, disabled President Trump's account, a spokesperson confirmed to Axios on Thursday.
Why it matters: It's the latest in a string of platform efforts to take action on Trump's accounts following his calls for violence that resulted in the historic riot at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
President Trump is banned from posting on his Facebook and Instagram accounts for at least the next two weeks until the transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden is complete, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post Thursday.
Why it matters: It's an extraordinary step for Facebook to take, given that the company has been one of the slowest to take action against the President's account and has historically prioritized free speech, especially for world leaders.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk saw his net worth grew to over $185 billion as of Thursday, surpassing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos as the world's richest man, CNBC reports.
The big picture: Tesla's stock price skyrocketed in 2020, making the electric car company more valuable than the world's top seven traditional automakers in a year marked by massive economic turmoil. The outspoken CEO responded Thursday to the news that he was now the world's richest man, tweeting: "How strange ... well, back to work."
Georgia's election results handing Senate control to Democrats mean the incoming Biden administration can fill key seats at the agencies that regulate tech.
Why it matters: That will give Democrats a chance to turn tech policy talk into action and advance legislation on issues like privacy and competition.
Wednesday's assault on the U.S. Capitol was an appalling shock to most Americans, but to far-right true believers it was the culmination of a long-unfolding epic.
The big picture: A growing segment of the American far right, radicalized via social media and private online groups, views anyone who bucks President Trump's will as evil. That includes Democrats, the media, celebrities, judges and officeholders — even conservatives, should they cross the president.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat all took their strongest actions yet to block President Trump after his messages egged on misinformation-fueled mobs storming the Capitol Wednesday.
Yes, but: Many critics say the social media companies bear some responsibility for the day's chaos for not reining in Trump sooner and harder — and the brief suspensions fell short of calls for the networks to permanently ban Trump's account for repeated rule violations.
A Snapchat spokesperson confirmed late Wednesday evening that the company locked President Trump's Snapchat account, making it the fourth major platform to take action on Trump's social media accounts.
Details: The company made the decision because it believes the account promotes and spreads hate and incites violence, the spokesperson said.
Facebook on Wednesday banned President Trump from posting for 24 hours after finding two of his incendiary posts violated its policy. The move comes after CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared the situation in Washington, D.C., an "emergency" and said the company was considering "additional measures" to keep people safe, according to an internal memo obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: President Trump has been using social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter, to get out his message, which has included continued baseless claims of election fraud and praise for those who occupied the Capitol.
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