Twitter permanently suspends Donald Trump’s Twitter account.
Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Twitter stock slid as much as 12.3% Monday morning, in the first trading session since the social media company permanently suspended President Donald Trump‘s account.
Twitter said late Friday it made the decision to remove the president “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” after the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The move could likely reignite legislation to revoke Section 230, the law that protects internet companies from liability for content users post, according to analyst notes. Trump has loudly voiced his disdain for Section 230, and some politicians in both parties have complained about it.
“While a Democratic administration may be less focused on significant reform of Section 230, recent events may make content legislation more likely,” BofA Securities analysts said in a note to clients. Still, the firm reiterated its buy rating on the stock.
“We would anticipate new proposed legislation in Congress on Social Media content given recent events, but note content concerns are not new and we think that new laws will provide social media companies with better guidelines and less uncertainty,” the analysts wrote.
“Can we expect more regulatory activity? It seems likely,” Bernstein analysts said in Sunday’s note.
Meanwhile, other social media companies also traded lower after taking actions against Trump. Facebook, which extended an initial 24-hour suspension to an indefinite one, was down about 2%. Snap and Pinterest each traded about 1.5% lower.
