Shopify removes Trump merchandise sites, Facebook blocks president's account, in response to Capitol mob

Although Twitter has flagged many of President Donald Trump's tweets as containing false information, the social media giant has resisted calls to suspend his @RealDonaldTrump account — until now.

On Wednesday, far-right extremists — many wearing MAGA hats — stormed the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., hoping to prevent the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's electoral college victory during a joint session of Congress. The violence delayed the session, but after it resumed, Congress ratified the results. Biden's inauguration is set for January 20 — less than two weeks from now.

Twitter and Facebook, following the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol Building by pro-Trump extremists, gave Trump a temporary suspension. According to a statement from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook ban will last through Biden's Inauguration. Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, likewise blocked the president's account.

And on top of that, e-commerce websites run by Trump's 2020 campaign and the Trump Organization have been taken offline by Shopify.

The Wall Street Journal's Vipal Monga reports, "Visitors to TrumpStore.com and shop.donaldjtrump.com, which sold official Trump-branded apparel, Make America Great Again hats and other merchandise, were greeted with error messages on Thursday morning. A Shopify spokeswoman said President Trump violated the company's policy, which prohibits retailers on the platform from promoting or supporting organizations or people that promote violence. 'As a result, we have terminated stores affiliated with President Trump,' the company said."

The storming of the Capitol Building was so shocking that another important news story was somewhat overshadowed on January 6: Democrats achieved a majority in the U.S. Senate. The victories of the Rev. Rafael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats, in U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia mean that Sen. Mitch McConnell, under Biden's presidency, will become Senate minority leader rather than Senate majority leader.

Author Hank Green, in response to that news, posted a snarky comment about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: