People from various walks of life have expressed outrage over Twitter permanently banning President Donald Trump from its platform on Friday.

The social media giant announced its decision in the aftermath of Wednesday’s riot at the Capitol, where people protesting the election results stormed the building, joining Democrats in blaming the president for inciting the rioters.

Even Russia’s leading pro-democracy dissident Alexey Navalny took to twitter to condemn the ban, calling it an "unacceptable act of censorship."

“Among the people who have Twitter accounts are cold-blooded murderers (Vladimir Putin or Nicholas Maduro) and liars and thieves (Dmitry Medvedev). For many years, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have been used as a base for Putin's ‘troll factory’ and similar groups from other authoritarian countries,” Navalny wrote on Twitter.

U.S. lawmakers and government officials also tweeted their reactions.

“Silencing speech is dangerous. It’s un-American. Sadly, this isn’t a new tactic of the Left. They’ve worked to silence opposing voices for years,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted.

“We cannot let them silence 75M Americans. This isn’t the [Communist Party of China].”

“Silencing people, not to mention the President of the US, is what happens in China not our country. #Unbelievable,” tweeted Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations.

“Even those who oppose Trump should see the danger of having a small & unelected group with the power to silence & erase anyone,” Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., tweeted. “And their actions will only stoke new grievances that will end up fueling the very thing they claim to be trying to prevent.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, agreed with his Senate colleague.

“Big Tech’s PURGE, censorship & abuse of power is absurd & profoundly dangerous,” Cruz wrote. “If you agree w/ Tech’s current biases (Iran, good; Trump, bad), ask yourself, what happens when you disagree?

“Why should a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires have a monopoly on political speech?”

House members also took to Twitter.

“By banning the duly elected President of the United States, Big Tech has declared they are more powerful than the will of the American people. Unelected tech oligarchs should not have such massive power over global discourse while enjoying little to no oversight/accountability,” tweeted Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., who briefly changed her profile picture to one of Trump.

“The only way to stop Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook from censoring conservatives is to rein in their anticompetitive behavior,” Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., tweeted.

“They can censor you because they are a monopoly.”

“Twitter purges conservatives. Google suspends Parler,” Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, wrote. “Where was Big Tech over the summer when liberal voices were inciting violence in our streets?

“To be clear: This isn’t about violence. This is about Big Tech trying to control what we think, what we share, how we communicate”

“This will not end well and will only make things worse. Big tech must stop,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, tweeted. “For the few liberals left in the Democrat party: work with us to protect our most sacred rights. This must be our greatest priority.”

Twitter’s decision seemingly put the American Civil Liberties Union in a difficult position.

“ACLU struggling here on this one....this is American Civil Liberties Union after all,” tweeted New York Times investigative reporter Eric Lipton, who included a comment from ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel Kate Ruane.

After saying the ACLU understands Twitter’s desire to ban Trump, Ruane said, “it should concern everyone when companies like Facebook and Twitter wield he unchecked power to remove people from platforms that have become  indispensable for the speech of millions."

Ruane added that while Trump has other means by which he can get out his messages, “Black, Brown, and LGBTQ activists” won’t have the same resources if social media platforms censor them.

Actor James Woods also expressed his displeasure about Twitter’s ban in a tweet that has been deleted.

"In their #GreatPurge the zealots at Twitter have removed 137,000 followers from my account in two days," he tweeted.

"Those cheering the suppression of people with whom they disagree might remember the pendulum always swings. Be careful what you wish for. It’s often what you also deserve.”

Actress Kirstie Alley, noting the ACLU’s comment, said, “ALL people should be concerned is the KEY here. It’s true, the average person will no longer have a platform to speak their views. This is called SLAVERY. This censorship proves BIG TECH now holds the keys to the chains.”