Facebook, Instagram ban Trump indefinitely

Facebook and Instagram have banned US President Donald Trump indefinitely.

In a statement on Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer (CEO) of both platforms, said the risk of allowing Trump to use the outlets to “provoke further violence” is too great “during this time of transfer of power in America”.

Facebook and Instagram joined other social media giants like Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat  to restrict the social media accounts of Trump.

Trump had used his social media platforms to mobilise his supporters to invade the Capitol Hill, and disrupt the January 6 congress joint session during the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the November 3 election.

At least four people were killed during a face-off between protesters and security operatives during the invasion of Capitol Hill.

Zuckerberg said the event of the last 24 hours showed Trump “intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden”.

“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,” he said.

“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.

“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.”