Twitter really wants you to know that everything will be fine after banning former President Donald Trump from the platform in January.
In its earnings report on Tuesday, the company made a unique disclosure about user growth in the current quarter, saying it saw above-average growth over the month, despite “unusual circumstances”.
Although Twitter did not explicitly say what these “unusual circumstances” were, it is not difficult to find out. Twitter permanently banned Trump on January 8, after he continued to post messages encouraging and defending the US Capitol rebellion on January 6. The company also permanently banned thousands of accounts linked to the Qanon movement at the same time.
Twitter share rose by 13% on Wednesday morning.
The Trump and Qanon bans on Twitter sparked fears that the company’s fate was tied to Trump and his followers and that the bans would hamper future growth. But the company made an extra effort on Tuesday to show that Trump was not the only major advanced user on the platform.
“We are a platform that is obviously much bigger than any topic or account,” said Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, in the company’s earnings conference call on Tuesday.
He also pointed to the dozens of accounts that have millions of followers and that 80% of all users are outside the U.S.
“We have a global service. We also don’t just depend on the news and politics that drive Twitter,” said Dorsey.
As for Trump returning to Twitter one day, the company’s CFO, Ned Segal, made it clear on Wednesday that this is not an option. Segal told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday that Trump would never be allowed to return to the site, even if he decides to run again.