As You Sow-"Twitter Shares Fall 7% Following Permanent Trump Ban/Facebook sees $34 billion erased from market cap "

Facebook sees $34 billion erased from market cap as Trump-ban fallout continues to spook tech investors

Bloomberg) -- Twitter Inc. shares fell 7% in pre-market trading after the social media platform permanently banned outgoing President Donald Trump.

Mirabaud analyst Neil Campling said the ban shows the company is making editorial decisions, and opens the door to more regulation of social media under the next administration.

“In the U.S., it’s about how are these companies being regulated, are they regulated, should they be regulated?” Campling said by phone.

What’s more, Trump is “the most popular character” on the platform, he added.

Twitter’s move, just days before Trump is due to leave office, followed a suspension of the president by Facebook Inc., whose founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Trump’s most recent posts showed he intended to use his remaining time in office to undermine a peaceful and lawful transition of power.

Following the ban on @realDonaldTrump, Trump sent a tweet late Friday from the separate account @POTUS, which belongs to the office of the president and has about 33 million followers.

"I have been saying for a long time, Twitter has gone further and further in banning free speech, and tonight, Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me,” read the post, which has since been removed from view. "

Twitter’s move, just days before Trump is due to leave office, followed a suspension of the president by Facebook Inc., whose founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Trump’s most recent posts showed he intended to use his remaining time in office to undermine a peaceful and lawful transition of power.