Facebook has made the decision to stop US President Donald Trump from posting for 24 hours. This comes after the social media giant removed two posts that were reportedly in support of a pro-Trump attack on the US Capitol.
“We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time,” reads a statement from Facebook.
We’ve assessed two policy violations against President Trump’s Page which will result in a 24-hour feature block, meaning he will lose the ability to post on the platform during that time.
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom) January 7, 2021
Not long after, Facebook-owned Instagram also confirmed that it would be blocking Trump. Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, says “We are locking President Trump’s Instagram account for 24 hours as well”.
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We are locking President Trump’s Instagram account for 24 hours as well. https://t.co/HpA79eSbMe
— Adam Mosseri 😷 (@mosseri) January 7, 2021
According to The Star Nigeria, Facebook “removed President Trump’s video post to D.C. rioters telling them to “go home” – while he also fanned the conspiracy flames that the US election was fraudulent”.
The report then goes on to say that a Facebook executive believes the company deleted Trump’s video because it could potentially increase the risk of violence.
“This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video,” says Guy Rosen, Facebook VP of Integrity. “We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”
Trump Pushes Executive Order to Ban Alipay, WeChat Pay and other Chinese Platforms
Trump has signed an executive order that aims to prohibit transactions with eight digital Chinese payment platforms, including Ant Group’s Alipay and Tencent’s QQ and WeChat Pay.
“Additional steps must be taken to deal with the national emergency with respect to the information and communications technology and services supply chain,” reads the order.
“The pace and pervasiveness of the spread in the United States of certain connected mobile and desktop applications and other software developed or controlled by persons in the People’s Republic of China… continue to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”
US Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross confirmed that the Commerce Department will “begin implementing the E.O.’s directives, including identifying prohibited transactions.”
According to TechCentral, the order is “likely to face legal challenges similar to those mounted against the president’s prior efforts to force the sale of TikTok from China-based owner ByteDance and ban WeChat’s messaging app”.
