Twitter stock fell as much as 12% on Monday after the social-media company permanently suspended President Donald Trump’s account on Friday evening. The share-price decline wiped $5 billion from Twitter’s market capitalization.
Twitter’s bosses suspended Trump’s account – which had about 88 million followers – after the world leader’s fanning of conspiracy theories about voter fraud and election theft spurred thousands of his supporters to lay siege to the Capitol last week.
“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said.
The ban followed Facebook’s suspension of Trump for at least the rest of his presidency. CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended the decision in a Facebook post on Thursday, arguing that Trump appeared intent on using his account to undermine a peaceful transition of power and risked sparking more violence.
Twitter stock likely fell because investors are worried the Trump ban will erode interest in the platform and lead to boycotts among those who see the decision as politically motivated and a way to silence a major conservative voice.
