Shares of Twitter fell Monday after the company announced late Friday that it had permanently banned President Donald Trump from the platform.
Twitter (TWTR) joins a growing list of companies distancing themselves from Trump following the deadly attack at the Capitol last week by a mob of the president’s supporters, many of whom believe Trump’s false assertion that the election was stolen from him. From a financial perspective, investors may believe banning Trump could hurt Twitter because some former followers of his feed may decide to leave the platform due to their belief that the company is silencing conservative voices. There’s also the fact that even before Trump’s ban, advertisers may have decided they want to avoid sponsoring content on a platform that has become polarizing. Twitter shares fell as much as nearly 10% early Monday before paring some losses and trading down 4% by midday.