Trump indefinitely blocked from Facebook and Instagram accounts, Zuckerberg announces
A Facebook and Instagram ban on posts by President Donald Trump will continue through at least the inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced.
“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,” Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook.
“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,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Congress certified Biden as the winner of the November election early Thursday after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to disrupt proceedings.
At least three other social media platforms also have penalized Trump for his posts during the riot.
Twitter locked Trump’s account for 12 hours on Wednesday after citing three tweets, including a video, that violated its rules against misinformation on the election.
Trump had repeated false claims that the election had been stolen through voter fraud in the posts. There is no evidence that voter fraud influenced the outcome of the election.
Twitter required that Trump remove the offending posts to regain access to the account after 12 hours. The site also warned it would permanently ban Trump if he continued to violate its rules, The Washington Post reported.
Facebook and Instagram had imposed 24-hour bans on Trump for inciting the violence at the Capitol, while YouTube removed a video he posted telling rioters to go home and that “we love you.”
Snapchat also has banned Trump for an indefinite period of time, TechCrunch reported. The platform “simply cannot promote accounts in America that are linked to people who incite racial violence, whether they do so on or off our platform,” said co-founder and chief executive officer Evan Spiegel in a blog post.
Some critics, including the NAACP and Anti-Defamation League, have called on the social media platforms to make the bans permanent, The Washington Post reported.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 8:20 AM with the headline "Trump indefinitely blocked from Facebook and Instagram accounts, Zuckerberg announces."