Following the breach of the United States Capitol by supporters of President Trump, the State Department instructed its diplomats to cease activity on social media platforms, according to CNN, referencing information from three individuals with knowledge of the situation. These diplomats stationed abroad received guidance from the under secretary for public affairs to halt all pre-arranged posts on platforms such as Facebook, Hootsuite, and Twitter, pending further instructions. Furthermore, scheduled content originating from the State Department’s official accounts was also put on hold.

CNN reports that such a directive to pause social media communications is typically reserved for instances of significant global events, like a terrorist incident or a large-scale natural catastrophe.

As of Wednesday evening in the United States, the primary Twitter feed of the State Department was limited to re-sharing a series of posts from Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, wherein he stated that the events at the U.S. Capitol were unacceptable.

Up to this point, the official State Department Instagram account, as well as the Instagram and YouTube accounts of Secretary Pompeo, had not published any new content following the disturbances at the Capitol. The State Department’s Facebook page, however, did feature a post mirroring Secretary Pompeo’s statements on Twitter.

TechCrunch has reached out to the State Department seeking a statement on the matter.

Several social media companies responded rapidly to an unusual and alarming day marked by violence that tragically led to four fatalities. Demonstrators entered the Capitol building early Wednesday afternoon while the process of counting electoral votes was underway, prompting an evacuation of legislators (the joint session was later resumed).

On Wednesday afternoon, Twitter mandated the removal of three tweets from President Donald Trump and temporarily suspended his account for a period of 12 hours, ultimately announcing a permanent suspension should he violate their Civic Integrity policy again. Simultaneously, Facebook and Instagram declared that President Trump would be prohibited from posting on his accounts for 24 hours and initiated a block on content utilizing the #StormTheCapitol hashtag.