Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerburg has revealed that US President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts will be banned “indefinitely”.
In a post, Zuckerburg says “we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”
This comes after Facebook made the decision to stop Trump from posting for 24 hours, following a pro-Trump attack on the US Capitol.
“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” reveals Zuckerburg.
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“His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world. We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect — and likely their intent — would be to provoke further violence.”
He goes on to say that over the last several years, Facebook has allowed Trump to use its platform consistent with its rules, at times removing content or labelling his posts when they violate policies.
“We did this because we believe that the public has a right to the broadest possible access to political speech, even controversial speech. But the current context is now fundamentally different, involving use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.”
But now, Zuckerburg believes the risks of allowing Trump to continue to use Facebook are simply too great.
