Photo via Anthony Quintano/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0), U.S. Air Force
January 7, 2021, 10:59 am
Donald Trump has been officially banned from both Facebook and Instagram following the events of the pro-Trump mob attack on the Capitol Wednesday, citing gross violations of the social media platform’s terms of service. They join Twitter and Snapchat in restricting the outgoing president’s social accounts, but Mark Zuckerberg took it a step further by extending the ban at least until Trump is all the way out of office.
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“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,” Zuckerberg wrote in a statement. “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.”
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Not only did Zuckerberg place the blame for the insurrection squarely on the shoulders of the president, he announced that Trump will be banned for at least two weeks, if not for eternity.
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“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.”
This came after Facebook and Instagram, along with Twitter, removed statements published on Trump’s accounts that praised and encouraged the mob, like that video where he called them “very special.”
With all of his favorite social media platforms taken away, Trump has not issued further statements on what happened on Wednesday, including about the four who died during the riots. It’s unclear if he knows how to address the public without Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Many Trump critics, including some who work for Facebook, only wish this could have been done much, much sooner.
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Wow, this comment on Zuckerberg’s thread comparing the reaction from Facebook to situations when they involve Black lives compared to white lives. pic.twitter.com/EkHpFPvvWt
— Ryan Mac
(@RMac18) January 7, 2021
*First Published: January 7, 2021, 10:59 am
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