If you've ever wondered what it would take for Twitter to suspend Donald Trump's tweeting privileges, apparently the red line is to incite people to riot for the purpose of overturning an election

Twitter announced that it would suspend President Trump's Twitter account for 12 hours after deleting three incendiary tweets by Trump

Supporters of the president flooded the US Capitol today (January 6) as Congress was in session to certify the results of last November's presidential election, in which former Vice President Joe Biden defeated President Trump

The president continues to challenge the results, even after repeatedly losing multiple court cases in which there was no evidence of election fraud

Today, the President learned that Vice President Mike Pence would not reject Biden's Electoral College victory

"Mike Pence did not have the courage to do what needs to be done to protect our country and our Constitution," President Trump said in a tweet

Shortly thereafter, pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, disrupting congressional business and forcing a lockdown for several hours

The president's opponents have long argued that Trump is using Twitter to spread disinformation and incite his supporters, and have urged Twitter Inc to take a more aggressive approach to the president's use of the social media site Some have even argued that President Trump's Twitter account should be suspended, and those demands have intensified as today's uproar unfolds

Twitter has so far resisted such calls, arguing that the president's erroneous statements (even when clearly untrue) serve the public interest Trump's tweets containing erroneous information about the election results and the coronavirus outbreak were recently labeled with a warning label

Twitter's special treatment of Trump may have ended today, as the smoke has cleared from the riots caused by the president's actions

A tweet featuring a video of the president repeating unsubstantiated claims of election violations and telling rioters he "loves them" was deleted by Twitter, as was a follow-up tweet in which the president called the rioters "great patriots" and urged them "to remember this day forever"

Previously, Twitter had placed the customary warning labels on President Trump's tweets, preventing other users from replying, retweeting, or quoting tweets However, Facebook today deleted a similar post by the president

Social media has been a large part of Trump's message since before he ran for president In the final days of his administration, these social media sites appear to be beginning to take a tougher stance on how President Trump conducts himself using their tools Critics of the president may wonder if this is too little too late