A former Twitter employee told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that the company gave former president Donald Trump more lenient treatment because it enjoyed the “power” his stature lent to the social network.
The testimony Tuesday marked the first time a former Twitter insider has testified under oath about the company’s role in giving Trump the megaphone he used to marshal an angry mob to attack the Capitol.
Trump had 88 million followers when Twitter “permanently suspended” him two days after the riot, citing fears he could incite further violence. But the suspension followed years of calls to ban his account due to tweets that featured harassment, conspiracy theories and viral lies.
The former Twitter employee said the company considered adopting a stricter content-moderation policy after Trump, at a September 2020 presidential debate, told the far-right extremist group the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
“My concern was that the former president, for seemingly the first time, was speaking directly to extremist organizations and giving them directives. We had not seen that sort of direct communication before, and that concerned me,” the former employee said.
But Twitter, the former employee said, ultimately decided...
A hotel on one the A127 has issued a statement after what it described as "false and misleading" claims were shared on social media. The Palms Hotel, on Southend Arterial Road (A127) in Hornchurch...