In the absence of Donald Trump, shares of Twitter along with other tech shares take a tumble

Hit by fallout by the  siege on the US Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, shares of Twitter and other tech companies fell yesterday, it is learnt.

Twitter’s stock ended the day down 6.4 per cent after the company permanently shut down Trump’s account @realDonaldTrump, which had 89 million followers on Friday last.

The social network cited concerns that the president would use it for “further incitement of violence”. Trump retorted that he would be “building out our own platform in the near future. We will not be silenced.”

There is a growing risk for tech companies especially those in social media that Congress will attempt to band them after last week’s rampage in Washington, D.C.

It is being said that a part of the attack on the Capitol was discussed and planned on social media  giving new life to debate over legal protections given to companies like Twitter and Facebook.

Shares in Facebook that suspended Trump’s account till January 20 and possibly indefinitely ended down 4 per cent yesterday.

There was a protest outside of Twitter’s headquarters building in San Francisco, but it was lightly attended. The building itself is largely empty because executives and employees have been working remotely for almost a year due to the pandemic.

Parler, known as a far-right friendly platform and known for connections to last week’s siege on the Capitol, was removed from the app stores of Google and Apple. Amazon took out its web hosting service just after midnight Pacific time early Monday. Shares of Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet, parent company of Google, all shed more than 2 per cent on Monday.

Trump supporters have argued that the actions of the technology companies is a violation of free speech and Trump has long tried to repeal Section 230. Though Trump’s tenure ends in a matter of nine days, power in the Senate has flipped to the Democrats who have long been against the oversized influence of social media.