President Trump is banned from posting on Facebook and Instagram “indefinitely” and for at least the last two weeks of his term as President of the United States, a post from CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated Thursday.
According to Zuckerberg, the “risks of allowing the President” to post on Facebook for the remainder of his term “are simply too great.”
The move comes just hours after “Stop the Steal” protesters stormed the Capitol building, forcing lockdowns and evacuations. The social media company had said Trump’s account would be locked for 24 hours Wednesday, a ban that was ultimately extended Thursday morning.
The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining…
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, January 7, 2021
Here is Zuckerberg’s full post, which was posted to his personal Facebook account:
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.
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.
Following the certification of the election results by Congress, the priority for the whole country must now be to ensure that the remaining 13 days and the days after inauguration pass peacefully and in accordance with established democratic norms.
Over the last several years, we have allowed President Trump to use our platform consistent with our own rules, at times removing content or labeling his posts when they violate our 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.
We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. 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.
