Facebook bans Trump from posting for remainder of his term in office
Facebook’s restrictions on President Donald Trump’s account will continue for at least the next two weeks and perhaps “indefinitely,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a blog post on Thursday.
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg wrote in the post. “Therefore, 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.”
At the very least then, Facebook will continue to restrict the president’s accounts through the end of his time in office.
The decision marks a major escalation by Facebook as it’s come under intense pressure to ban Trump following his inflammatory rhetoric encouraging insurrection.
If the restrictions hold, Facebook could be the first major platform to remove Trump permanently.
Facebook and Twitter took the extraordinary step on Wednesday of temporarily locking President Donald Trump’s account on their platforms after his supporters stormed the Capitol building to protest the election.
In his blog post Thursday, Zuckerberg said Facebook had determined that Trump’s recent posts were “likely” intended to escalate the violence rather than the opposite.
Trump has shown he “intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Facebook has already described the events surrounding Trump’s posts this week as an emergency. Now, Zuckerberg has finally revealed where Facebook will draw the line for Trump — at nothing less than a deadly assault on Congress.
