It’s no secret that President Trump — as a private citizen, a presidential candidate, and as president — has used Twitter to make outrageous, uncivil, and conspiratorial statements. But this has been true for years. Until this month, when Trump was permanently banned from the social network, the company had resisted the step, arguing that it had a policy against banning world leaders.

“Twitter is here to serve and help advance the global, public conversation,” the company announced in 2018. “Elected world leaders play a critical role in that conversation because of their outsized impact on our society.”