Facebook bans Trump from access to accounts indefinitely

Washington, Jan. 8, (dpa/GNA) – Facebook banned President Donald Trump from his accounts indefinitely on Thursday, one day after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol building.

“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,” Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.

“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,” the statement continued.

Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter blocked Trump’s accounts following the violence on Wednesday, but it was unclear how long the bans would last.

Twitter banned Trump from its platform for 12 hours, and noted that the block could be made indefinite if Trump continues to violate the company’s policies.

However, Trump was back posting from Twitter on Thursday evening. He posted a video in which he denounced the “violence, lawlessness and mayhem” at the Capitol, but did not acknowledge his role in riling up his supporters.

The social media companies have come under fire for failing to crack down sufficiently on Trump’s misinformation, including baseless claims that the US presidential election in November was stolen.

Some critics pointed out that Zuckerberg only decided to take a stand against Trump once it became clear that the Democrats would control both the White House and the Senate, and would thus be in charge of crafting key legislation that could affect big tech companies like Facebook.

GNA